


Stuck in My Mind

by TrinsCabbage



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: And I Mean Slow Burn, Angst, Anxiety, Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi Chapter, Slow Burn, Will add more tags as we go, eventual major character death because it's danganronpa, kazuichi POV, rated T for sexual references and swearing, this is a soudam fic but it is a rewrite first probably, this is gonna be long strap in
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:55:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28122729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrinsCabbage/pseuds/TrinsCabbage
Summary: Kazuichi Soda wakes up anxious about being murdered. Gundham Tanaka does not help to ease his mind at all, in fact, Kazuichi can't seem to get Gundham out of his mind. Every little thing he does sticks in Kazuichi's head. He hates it.A canon rewrite of Super Danganronpa 2 from Kazuichi's POV, where a certain breeder catches his eye.Italicized words are inner thoughts.Rated T for Teen because of swearing and sexual references. There are spoilers for the game in the sense that you know what doesn't happen in each chapter, because I have changed all murders and victims.
Relationships: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham, one sided Sonia Nevermind/Soda Kazuichi, other bg ships add later?
Comments: 84
Kudos: 164





	1. First Day of School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kazuichi's first day of the Killing School Life, let's hope he can survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Danganronpa fic... I wanted a soudam canon rewrite of Danganronpa and by gosh by golly I had to make it myself or else it wouldnt exist (i dont think it exists....)  
> Criticism is VERY encouraged! Just don't be hateful about it, ya feel? Also pls point out if I have made a typo and what the typo is... I proofread it but some stuff just falls through the cracks.
> 
> My twitter and tumblr are both TrinsCabbage ! i dont have an ig  
> Please enjoy!!!

Kazuichi had woken up to the sound of waves crashing, birds chirping, and the realization that his chances of getting murdered had skyrocketed. Just last night, the monochromatic bear had made an entrance, killing Usami -- or Monomi, he wasn’t sure anymore -- and describing the killing school trip. He knew he couldn’t kill anyone, but who knew what that little boss baby, the quiet sword lady, or that creepy scarf guy was capable of.

He decided to get out of bed early, cursing his body for still being on the bike shop sleep schedule. The morning air was warm and welcoming, despite the pool of dread in his stomach. Usami had said they were free to explore the islands as they pleased, so Kazuichi set off for the other 5 islands in hopes of clearing his head before breakfast. The creaky bridge to the central island gave Kazuichi yet another reason to be on edge. He just hoped he wouldn’t run into anyone.

As he started circling the central island, he was stopped in his tracks as he saw one of those monsters Monokuma summoned in front of the gate marked 2. He couldn’t even get to Jabberwalk Park without passing by that terrifying tiger looking monster. 

“Uh… n-nice kitty… haha…” Kazuichi said softly as he passed by the giant mecha, making sure his back was never turned to it. As soon as Kazuichi felt he was safe-ish, he hightailed it to the next gate, completely forgetting there was a park to take refuge in.

Kazuichi let out a giant scream as he realized the 3rd gate was guarded by a giant snake. He quickly covered his mouth in horror, not wanting to catch its attention. He stood in shock for who knows how long, head empty, before having his heart rate rise once again.

“Tch, as Tamer of Aut-” Gundham started, before being cut off by yet another, even louder scream from Kazuichi.

“OH MY GOD PLEASE DON’T KILL ME! I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A WALK, I SWEAR!!” Kazuichi yelled all in one breath.

“I would not waste my dark magic in killing a plebian such as yourself, Tamer of Automations. However, I would have thought better of you than to be afraid of these mindless creatures, for I was under the assumption that you worked with metal made beings often.” Gundham replied with his chest puffed up, seemingly unaffected by the monsters around him. Kazuichi was still reeling from the utter fear he experienced, but now was also entirely embarrassed. _Jeez, how much can one guy suck himself off._

“I-I’m not scared, you just startled me. I’m just here to uh, look at how these things were built, yeah. Mind your business next time.” Kazuichi lied, although a bit confused as to why he felt he had to justify himself to this clown.

“Kehehe.. So be it. You are no longer worthy of my presence.” Gundham left with a smirk.

Kazuichi decided to examine the other gates so he would have something to report back to at breakfast, in case Gundham tried to make a fool of Kazuichi. He did scream when the Monokuma morning announcement played, but he managed to pull himself together after. He was still very on edge, murmuring to each one of the monsters as he passed and finally sprinting back to the first island. 

He decided to take a breather in front of his cottage before heading to the restaurant. Well, it was supposed to be a breather, before Hajime exited his cottage which, once again, caused Kazuichi to yell. 

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Oh, it’s just you… don’t scare me like that.” Kazuichi said, fiddling with his beanie. 

“I could say the same for you!” 

Kazuichi was blinded by his own anxiety and decided to continue. “Dude… have you seen them? The bridges… from the central island… they’re.. They’re all being blocked… by those… those monsters that the-”

“They’re not monsters. They’re Monobeasts.”

Kazuichi’s throat was being torn up at this point with this much screaming. 

“OH MY GOD IT’S HEEEEEERE” Kazuichi screamed at Monokuma, tugging his beanie until it covered his eyes. Monokuma explained the Monobeasts were the “guardians” of the island. _Yeah right, I just know I’m not gonna fuckin’ touch em’._ The dread in kazuichi’s stomach only grew larger, making him feel extremely nauseous. 

“This morning has been too much… It’s all been too much... I can’t take it anymore…” Kazuichi confessed to Hajime with teary eyes. They should’ve listened to Hajime at the beginning of the trip when he said to be careful. 

“Dude! Stop whining and get a grip. Your eyes are like… melting.” 

“I-I can’t! I-I’m gonna eat eaten by monsters… or murdered… or executed…” Kazuichi trailed off.

“Hey, what’s with all the noise?” Peko said.

“ANOTHER M-M-M-MONSTER!!!!!!!!” Kazuichi’s throat was essentially murdered at this point. His flight or fight response had finally pushed him over the edge, with what seemed like a million surprises today, and he ran towards the restaurant. _There’s probably others there… yeah… I’ll be safe in a group…_

He was met with annoyed stares as he walked in. _Oh crap, I must’ve been late. I thought they said meet after the announcement!_ It then dawned on him that it was, in fact, after the morning announcement. Kazuichi was known for being two things: a good mechanic, and stupid. 

He grabbed a plate of food and sat down at a table, not really paying attention to who was there except for Miss Sonia. He liked one thing about this school trip so far, and that was her. She was pretty, she said smart things, and she was a princess. What else could a man want? 

Hajime and Peko entered the dining hall as Byakuya began his speech, which broke Kazuichi out of his Sonia-induced daydream. 

“In order to survive on this island, we need a few things. Do any of you know what these things are?” Byakuya said condescendingly. 

“Oh! Food, water, and a place to sleep!” Akane said between mouthfuls of food. 

“No, we need more things in order to survive.”

“We need a good shit! A good meal, a good sleep, and a good shit is what we need!” Nekomaru bursted out. _He doesn’t have an ‘inside voice,’ does he._

“No, can one of the intelligent people respond?” Kazuichi knew that wasn’t him, so he sat back and munched on his toast. He finally soothed his throat with some warm tea with honey in it. 

“Well, that certainly isn’t Mikan. She’s the dumbest bitch I’ve ever had to lay my eyes on.” Hiyoko chuckled.

“I-I-I’m sorry!” Mikan responded, openly sobbing.

“Perhaps it is some sort of friendship? If we can all work together, we can inspire an even greater hope than the despair Monokuma is enforcing!” Nagito said with a smile, his hair crunching as he moved his head. 

Monomi popped up out of nowhere. Kazuichi was too tired to be surprised anymore. “Ring a ding ding! It is very important to be friends with everyone and collect all the hope fragments!” She paused, looking sad. “Even though… the evil Monokuma took my magic stick and… the fragments won’t let you get off the island… You still need to become very good friends and bond together!” Monomi finished, bringing herself together. There were murmurs around the restaurant, questioning how she was alive and such, but Kazuichi just decided to accept that there was weird shit going around on this island. 

“I know I’d certainly like to bond with the ladies on this island… Sonia, I’d love to bond with you especially~” Teruteru remarked, having a sudden nosebleed. Everyone looked visibly uncomfortable. 

“I can’t believe you can just say that…” Kazuichi said under his breath. 

“Despite Teruteru’s… vulgar remark, Nagito’s point is the closest to an intelligent response I’ve heard. While it’s nice to think about how we can all form a nice friendship, in order to do that we need a leader. I hereby nominate myself as leader for you all, and I-”

“Hey! You can’t just elect yourself like that! I think Sonia should be the leader.’ Mahiru piped up, getting a few agreements from the crowd. 

“Ah, thank you Mahiru for such wonderful praise. I would love to be a leader, but I suppose I should not do it alone.” She turned to face Byakuya directly. “I propose that we be… how would you say… ‘co-leaders’ of sorts. That way we can provide an example of friendship for the entire island!” Sonia said as Kazuichi watched with stars in his eyes. 

“Very well. I accept the proposal. We shall talk more after breakfast. I'm not done eating.” Byakuya said as he started feasting. Sonia was getting praise by the girls around her, especially Mahiru. Kazuichi and Teruteru were left to sit and watch from the sidelines. Kazuichi watched as Nagito and Gundham approached Sonia together.

“Wow Sonia, what a great way to inspire hope, as expected of the Ultimate Princess! I would do anything to inspire hope into people, but this was above and beyond! It really shows your dedication, you must have been a great leader to your country as well. I’m sure you’d love to go back soon, and with your leadership I’m sure we could get there!” Nagito gushed at Sonia. _Jeez, she took his compliment so well, but I’m pigshit compared to him now._

“I agree with the master of luck here, you are truly fit to be a leader, dark queen.” Gundham commented. _Tch… I was the first one to give Miss Sonia a pet name… It’s a stupid name anyway. I’m sure she’ll hate it and chew him out-_

“Thank you Gundham! And thank you Nagito! Your words mean so much, but you should congratulate Byakuya too, for he is a great leader as well.” She said with a beautiful smile. Kazuichi wished he could make her smile like that. 

They continued to eat breakfast and soon enough they all went their separate ways. Kazuichi tried to inconspicuously trail behind Byakuya and Sonia as they walked, but he was painfully obvious to the two leaders. Eventually they parted ways, and Kazuichi decided it was now or never to take his shot to hang out with Sonia. He needed to get to her before anyone else. 

“H-Hey! Miss Sonia! Do you want to uh…” Kazuichi realized he didn’t have a plan as Sonia’s face fell into a frown. “You wanna hang out on the beach for a while?” Kazuichi said, trying his best not to look stupid, but utterly failing. 

“No, I wish to speak with Nagito this evening. Farewell.” She walked off before he could even get another word in. _First she likes Hamster-chan, now she wants to talk to the hope freak?_

As if on cue, Gundham Tanaka, the overlord of lameville, walked past Kazuichi with his eyes locked on Sonia.

“H-Hey man! Sonia said she was gonna talk to Nagito today. That weirdo is even more desirable to hang out with than you, Hamster-chan!” Gundham turned around on his heel to face Kazuichi, a scowl on his face. He walked towards Kazuichi until their toes were touching, getting right up in his face. 

“Listen here, mere mortal,” he spat. “The supreme Overlord of Ice does as he pleases, lest he be stopped by otherworldly forces! A low life such as yourself is no match for me. Have you ever thought, perhaps, she was withholding the truth in order to prompt your departure?” He said with an uncharacteristic smirk. He then turned around and walked towards Sonia, leaving Kazuichi speechless.

Kazuichi watched as Gundham approached Sonia and went to talk with her. After a few short minutes, they both went their separate ways. Kazuichi smirked, grateful to prove Gundham wrong, but wondering why Sonia wanted to talk to Nagito of all people.

“Hey Kazuichi, wanna hang out?” Hajime said, bringing Kazuichi back down to Earth. 

“Y-yeah sure.” Kazuichi then prepared to monologue at Hajime. 

Kazuichi talked about his poor life growing up, his abusive dad, the burden of having to run his family’s entire shop essentially by himself, his now destroyed hope that he would be able to have a normal school trip, and his inner fears. Normal stuff for the first time hanging out with someone after meeting them. Kazuichi was the king of oversharing.

“AND ANOTHER THING! That dude Gundham, with the hamsters? He totally freaked me out this morning. Then, just now, he has the audacity to say that Sonia was lying to me to get me off her back when only seconds later she brushed him off as well! God, that dude has his head so far up his own ass. And Miss Sonia likes him! I don’t get it!” Kazuichi ended his rant with an even more sore throat.

“Bro, you have known her for how long? Maybe try to chill out? She’d want you to get along with everyone.”

“I know that, but it’s still weird she wanted to talk to Komaeda instead of me. Like, why?” Kazuichi thought out loud. 

“I mean, he seemed pretty eager to help with forming bonds between people. Plus, he wasn’t stalking her while she was talking with Byakuya.”

“Hey hey hey! It wasn’t stalking, I was just waiting for my chance. It still sucks for me either way. At least I got to talk to you.”

“Hehe, it was nice hanging out with you too Kazuichi, although we should go back to our cabins, it’s getting late.” Hajime said as he left. Kazuichi did feel better after hanging out with Hajime. At least he didn’t seem like a fool to one person on the island yet. 

The jealousy surrounding Gundham followed him to sleep that night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!! :D if you liked it, Kudos! Please follow my twitter/tumblr @Trinscabbage  
> sorry if gundham is a little ooc in the beginning i wanna make him meaner for...... reasons....
> 
> I don't know when updates are going to be but hopefully soon!! I am very excited to write this !!  
> Please comment with criticism, I WANT criticism. If you don't have any, comment who you think will die first!


	2. Yearning...... for Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazuichi faces the consequences of yelling all day yesterday and staring at someone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> glad y'all enjoyed the first chapter!!!! hopefully my gundham speak is holding up well, ive been watching his VA play through danganronpa 2 to really study gundham...  
> ALSO u should so watch it because Chris (gundham's voice actor) is voicing all of gundham's lines :D just search Chris Tergliafera on yt and it is under his playlists section
> 
> Please, follow my twitter & tumblr @TrinsCabbage !! My pfp on twitter is my danganronpa-sona, ultimate puppetter if you want to see it. Enjoy the chapter!

Because of his utter exhaustion yesterday, Kazuichi's tired body let him sleep in until 6:30 .  _ Well, going on a walk turned out so well last time that I think I will never do it again.  _ He stepped into the shower and let the pink stained water from his hair dye run down his body. The scalding hot water soothed his muscles, but most of all helped his raw throat. He took a deep breath in through his mouth, let it sit there, and breathed it all back out. It was still hurt, but it felt temporarily better as he kept breathing through his mouth. He stopped once he accidentally choked on some water, which made his throat hurt all over again. 

He was drying his hair as the Monokuma announcement played. He sniffed his underwear, deciding that yesterday’s didn’t smell too bad and put them on along with the rest of his outfit. He walked at a leisurely pace to the restaurant, still bothered by his sore throat.  _ I gotta work on the screaming thing, I’m basically being asked to be murdered at this point,  _ he thought to himself as he entered the restaurant. 

Mikan wasn’t there as he had hoped, so he decided to sit with Teruteru who was inspecting the food thoroughly.  _ Maybe he knows a good soup recipe for soothing sore throats. I could go for some soup right now… I’m not sick enough for chicken noodle soup and I don’t really want to drink warm ketchup… What other soups are there? I know there’s that fancy soup that has seafood in it… I don’t really like seafood but what was it called? It had clams? Mussels? They were open in the middle of the soup. Is porridge a soup? No, it’s too thick to be a sou- _

__ “Hey man, why be checking out that food when you could check out this hot bod right here?” Teruteru said, breaking Kazuichi from his soup induced daydream. 

“Nah man, just,” Kazuichi cleared his throat, “My throat’s really raw after yesterday. Ya got anything that could maybe… fix me up?” 

“Oh, I’ve got plenty of things that could fix you right up… Something warm, tasty, a little salty, maybe creamy?~ I’d need some sort of… payment of sorts… but we don’t use money on the island. You could do a little something for me in return, but your throat wouldn’t be the only thing that was raw~~” Teruteru finished, leaning closer with every word and Kazuichi leaning farther and farther back in his chair.

“Hey hey hey man! I don’t know what you think you can get me to do, but I ain’t doin’ it! My throat hurts, I-I-I couldn’t even do anything if you wanted, hehe!” Kazuichi nervously laughed. He didn’t know why he said that last bit, but it was already out of his mouth. 

“Well, it was worth a shot. You’re totally not my type anyway, your teeth are too sharp.” Kazuichi felt a bit offended, but decided to brush it off. “I can make you my famous Poultry-and-Escarole Healing Stew… I can bring it to your cottage in about 30 minutes if you’d really like.”

“That would be awesome, man. I’m excited to try it!”

“You should be more than excited! This soup is going to be so good, you’re going to want to feel me up just for more!” Teruteru said as he rushed into the kitchen.  _ What is that guy’s deal? Can’t he just, jerk it out of his system or something? _

“Ew! Kazuichi, I don’t want to hear about you and Teruteru’s gross sex life! It’s sad enough you’re so desperate that you go for Teruteru, but it makes sense that two pigs would fall for eachother!” Hiyoko said while giggling. Without noticing, the rest of his class, except for Fuyuhiko, had entered the restaurant.

“Th-that’s not what we were doing! It’s just Teruteru being a creep! My heart belongs to Miss Sonia!” He blurted out without thinking, tears stinging his eyes. He realized what he had said a second later and looked over at Sonia expectantly.

She hadn’t noticed his heroic declaration of love, but instead was chatting with none other than Gundham.  _ That dude is really getting on my nerves. _ He continued to stare at Gundham for a few minutes, just observing him. Kazuichi decided to blame it on his hamsters, he did want to know where they hid when they weren’t out on Gundham’s shoulders.

“Sheesh! You get dumped by Teruteru and Sonia, now you’re going for her weird emo boyfriend!! You really are gross! Well, not as gross as Mikan. It’s really a shame I have to see her ugly face every morning at these meetings.” A faint apology could be heard across the restaurant. 

“H-Hey! I didn’t get dumped by either of them! I’ll never give up on Miss Sonia! I was just starin’ at her just now ‘cuz she’s so pretty… not like you…” Kazuichi chuckled to himself. 

“Oooh! Kazuichi has a crush!! If this were a love song, I’d call it  **The Mechanic Has No Hopes of Getting the Princess Because He Doesn’t have Hamsters Like the Other Boy** !” Ibuki nearly shouted, garnering the attention of most of the room. Kazuichi pulled his beanie down over his eyes, hoping Sonia hadn’t heard any of that. Little did he know that Gundham and Sonia had heard the whole thing.

“Kehehe… I am not such a weakling like you mortals that I am working to court a powerful Dark Queen such as Sonia a few days after I have met her. It is simply idiotic, these things you humans call ‘crushes.’”

“Hehe! Gundham, you are a gentleman!” Sonia said, giggling and smiling in the cute way that she does. Gundham hid behind his scarf, hiding his blush.  _ What a dorky thing to do, how cheesy! Why does she give her attention to him? _

“M-Miss Sonia! I-I promise I’m a gentleman too… You’re just so stunnin’... I wanna treat you like the princess you are! I can’t help it!”

“Well, you should start helping it.” Sonia said with a smile. Kazuichi was absolutely crushed. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to say something else that would incriminate him. Hiyoko was quietly giggling to herself, no doubt storing this event for later blackmail. 

“Ah, uhm, I need to go back to my cottage heh, uh, tell Teruteru I’ll be there… n-not because I want to talk to him! J-just for the soup he’s makin’ me.” He faked a cough a few times, which ended up hurting his throat more, before speeding out of the restaurant. E could feel tears starting to well in his eyes as he walked down the steps and past the pool area. The hot embarrassment started to overheat him, so he took off his beanie and ran a hand through his hair before stepping back into his cottage.

Kazuichi sat down on his bed with his head in his hands.  _ I already made a fucking fool of myself, great. This’ll be just like my last “friends.” I thought school trips were better than this, where the ladies would at least be nice to me! I couldn’t even last a meal without making myself look awful. Kinda glad I skipped my middle school one…  _ He decided to lie down, just to stare at the ceiling. When he was just about to drift off to sleep, he heard a knock out the door.  _ Can I get one moment to myself?  _ He thought, not even wanting to get up to see who it was. Honestly, he didn’t want to talk to anyone for the rest of the day. He crossed his fingers when opening his door, hoping it was not anyone who wanted to actually hold a conversation with him.

To his surprise, Kazuichi opened the door to a tupperware container of soup at his doorstep. He was thankful that he didn’t have to talk to Teruteru; he just couldn’t deal with his eccentricity right now.  _ Finally, something can turn this shitty morning around.  _ The smell that erupted from the soup container filled his entire cottage with warmth and a sense of home. For how perverted Teruteru was, he really seemed to live up to his ultimate. 

He was about to dig in when he realized he didn’t have a spoon. “Damnit,” he said out loud to no one. With a sigh he closed the lid on the soup and went to step out of his cottage before stopping to think.  _ Chances are that people will still be at the restaurant from breakfast, so that’s a no-go… Where else has spoons? Could I make a spoon out of parts I have? No, that’s too much hassle. Maybe there is a spoon store… _ After repeating the phrase “spoon store” in his own mind an embarrassing amount of times, it finally dawned on him that there was a supermarket on the island and, chances are, they sold spoons. With newfound determination for soup, he stepped out of his cottage and went to the supermarket.

Kazuichi could faintly hear mutterings coming from inside the store. He paused before opening the door as quietly as he could. To his dismay, it was none other than Gundham Tanaka talking to himself at the vending machine.  _ What the fuck is he doing whispering to himself?  _ Against his better judgement, Kazuichi quietly stepped closer to the other man just to be in earshot of what he was saying.

“Ah, San-D, is there something from this coin-operated apparatus that has caught your all-seeing evil eye? Ah, I see… the seeds from the mighty flower of the gods is what you yearn for… Very well then, I shall purchase them for you all, for you must keep your temporary forms strong in order to reincarnate as the finest demons in hell… yes!” Kazuichi watched as Gundham put a couple of what looked like Chuck E Cheese tokens into the vending machine. 

Kazuichi was having a very hard time keeping it together, but he couldn’t figure out if he wanted to laugh, cry, or punch Gundham in the face.  _ He is so full of himself! “Apparatus?” Say vending machine! What is so good about the so-called great Gundham Tanaka? _ Sonia seemed immediately enamoured with the other, but why not Kazuichi? Before his second self loathing spiral for the day could be formed, Gundham turned around and locked eyes with Kazuichi.

“You fiend! Were you spying on me to get me to unveil my secrets about the all-seeing evil eye? Or perhaps you want to witness my true form before I smite you into ashes?!” Gundham said, taking a wide battle stance, his scarf whipping behind him.

“I was just waiting for the vending machine to be open, ya weirdo.” Kazuichi lied. He didn’t want to get into an argument now, especially since all he came in the supermarket for was a spoon. He knew he would get riled up if he were talking to Gundham. 

“Tch, to think I would fall for such a simple-minded trap… Kehehe… It is unwise of you to perform any trickery around me…”

“I’m not tryin’ to trick ya, just trying to get to the vending machine!”

“Hmph, if you are so keen on operating this apparatus, why not share with me what you yearn for?”  _ I’m guessing he’s asking what I want from it… Why can’t he just talk normally for one second. _

“I gotta get a spoon, that’s it, I swear! Now move!” Gundham took one step closer to Kazuichi.

“You simple-minded mortal, I can see right through your half-truths. For if you needed a spoon, you would have gone to the dining area, where there is an abundance of spoons! Even mortals without the all-seeing eye can deduce that spoons come from restaurants!” Kazuichi stepped closer to Gundham. 

“Well, m-maybe I just wanted to avoid hearing you talk about yourself like you’re the main character in a poorly written video game! A-and I’m not simple minded either! I at least know what a fucking vending machine is called!” Kazuichi said as he raised his voice. 

“I am this world’s purpose, you fool! I am half demon, half angel, therefore the world must destroy me, but still I persist! You are nothing to me, for I am what matters. I have traveled to realms your mind can not even fathom, yet you choose to provoke me? Do not challenge me, for this is your only deterrent!” Gundham stepped forward again, pointing directly in Kazuichi’s face.

“How far up your own ass are ya man? You read too much manga and decided you wanted to be the villain? It ain’t cool, dude. Everyone can see right through you, even Miss Sonia!” 

“Tch, to think you can reach my weakest point by mentioning the Dark Queen and mocking my hobbies? How pitiful, truly. I rely on no human except for myself! The Dark Queen senses my unrelenting power and chooses to follow in my footsteps. I can not say the same for you, for you have disgusted her by your actions from the moment you had met her!” Kazuichi took a step back before unzipping his jumpsuit and tying it around his waist. 

“Oh yeah? Let’s see this ‘power’ you speak of, huh? Not too scared to fight, are ya? None of this ‘magic’ crap you’re spoutin’. Man to man!” Kazuichi said, yelling directly into Gundham’s face. Gundham seemed unphased.

“Kehehe… you imbecile. Challenging me is the last request you will ever give, for I am Gundham Tanaka! I will unleash true hell unto thee!” Gundham yelled back. Kazuichi could feel Gundham’s angry breath on his face, only making him more irritated. 

Kazuichi took a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was just me and kazuichi roleplaying the "i aint gonna give you no soup" scene from icarly
> 
> shoutout to one of my friends/beta readers for saying "drink? the soup? guess some of us have 'standards' 🙄" at kazuichi needing a spoon...
> 
> please please hit the kudos and the comment and the bookmark button... frfr i wanna know yalls guesses at who the first victim is  
> also i swear eventually i will do regular updates, during my winter break i'll get it set up


	3. Poor Soupless Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gundham and Kazuichi quarrel, until someone else shows up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Kazuichi Actually Be Able To Eat His Fucking Soup? Find out in this issue of Stuck in my Mind! also chapter titles r so hard
> 
> as always im gonna promote my twitter and tumblr, both @TrinsCabbage so ya :D thanks for reading ALSO pls look at my new carrd it's really sexy i promise https://WHlTE-SPACE.CARRD.CO

Kazuichi reared back his fist and swung at Gundham’s face. Gundham caught it with his bandaged hand and grabbed a hold of Kazuichi’s wrist. Kazuichi tried to punch with his free hand, but Gundham was quicker than his fist, stepping to the side. Kazuichi tried to weasel his hand out of Gundham’s, but Gundham’s grip was only getting tighter. Luckily, Kazuichi’s wiggling had made Gundham’s bandages loose, allowing for Kazuichi’s hand to slip out again. 

Kazuichi tried to do a boxing stance like he’d seen in movies. He knew to protect his face and kind of jump around, but he didn’t quite get why this was useful. Kazuichi didn’t want to make the next move, more confident now he could counter Gundham better than if he was on the offence. However, Gundham made no point to move. He stood his ground, mumbling words Kazuichi couldn’t understand. 

Gundham closed his eyes for a second, making Kazuichi believe this was his chance. Kazuichi took the bait and tried to do one of those sucker punches he knew that could knock people out in shows. It really seemed like Kazuichi would finally land a hit on Gundham, but alas, he was mistaken. Gundham put his hand between his chin and Kazuichi’s fist at the last second, forcefully stopping the impact at the last second. Kazuichi was shocked and froze for what seemed like no time at all, but it was all Gundham needed.

The grip Gundam suddenly had on Kazuichi’s wrist hurt, cutting off some circulation to his hand. Gundham twisted Kazuichi’s arm so it was at his own side, pulling Kazuichi close to his face. Kazuichi braced himself for impact, scrunching his face up.  _ What the fuck? Isn’t it all just an act? Why’s he actually good at this? _

“Kehe.. you fool. I shall not take mercy on you, for you have besieged me first. I gave you time to back down, to scurry away in fear, but you have not taken your final chance.” Kazuichi opened one eye to see Gundham with a smile on this face. “I am Gundham Tanaka! Now, I shall unleash true hell upon you!” Gundham roared, gripping Kazuichi’s even wrist tighter, getting ready to throw Kazuichi over his shoulder, lifting his arm up quickly and-

“HEY BASTARDS!” Kazuichi heard from over his shoulder. Gundham quickly let go of Kazuichi’s wrist and stepped back, returning to his normal stance. His hamsters quickly climbed back upon him. Kazuichi looked over to the origin of the voice and saw Fuyuhiko standing there. “I’m fuckin’ starvin’ because that athletic chick ate all the food from breakfast when I got there… I just wanna get somethin’ from the store but I can’t because of you two yellin’ about… I don’t even wanna know what. I just wanna fuckin’ kill both of you!” Fuyuhiko started to sweat, obviously hangry. Kazuichi stepped aside so Fuyuhiko could reach the vending machine. Gundham and Fuyuhiko stood in silence as they watched him grumble to himself while finally ordering some mineral water. Kazuichi felt the same type of embarrassment that he got whenever a teacher raised their voice. It made him feel weaker than he already was. He just hoped Fuyuhiko hadn’t seen his poor attempts at fighting. He wanted to justify himself.

“I-I just needed a spoon f-f-for the soup Teruteru m-made me…” Kazuichi said as he looked down at the ground. He could feel eyes burning into him. 

“You fuckin’ idiot! You fought over a stupid spoon?!” Fuyuhiko sighed, gesturing wildly at Kazuichi.

“N-no! It was Gundham wh-who was hoggin’ the vending machine!”

“Are there fucking SPOONS in the vending machine? Is that what vending machines are for?” 

“W-Well you’re a yakuza! You guys fight all the time I bet!” Kazuichi replied, desperately trying to defend his own actions and ignore the fact that he started fighting just because Gundham was existing. 

“The fuck you say to me?  _ Us Yakuza _ don’t pick fights over fucking cutlery!” Fuyuhiko shook his head to try to get rid of some of the redness in his face. Kazuichi didn’t want to fight with Fuyuhiko either. There was a pause where Kazuichi just looked at the tiles on the floor.  _ Wow, what a nice shade of orange.  _

“Look, I’m real fuckin’ hungry. You said that cook made some soup? Give some to me and I’ll forget about this.” Kazuichi picked his head up at Fuyuhiko’s voice. Fuyuhiko took a step closer to Kazuichi and began talking a little lower. “You wouldn’t want Sonia to hear about this, huh?” He was right, Kazuichi didn’t want the one girl he cares about on this island to know that he lost to his main rival in a fight.

“F-fine. We can have some soup together.” Kazuichi turned to Gundham. “And y-you don’t go tellin’ Miss Sonia about this, ya hear?” He tried to sound tough to Gundham despite his pathetic attempts at violence, so he just ended up sounding desperate. 

“Hmph. As if I would stoop as low as blackmail. However, I do not want anyone to know of this moment of weakness either.”  _ Weakness? He woulda beat my ass if Fuyuhiko wasn’t there…  _ Kazuichi was about to get angry again when Fuyuhiko suddenly tugged on his arm. 

“I’m not gettin’ any less hungry! Come on!” Fuyuhiko said as he essentially dragged Kazuichi out of the store, leaving Gundham behind.

“W-wait! I never got the spoon dude, how are we supposta-”

“There are spoons in the dining hall, since that’s where people actually get eating utensils,” Fuyuhiko mocked Kazuichi before stopping outside the hotel site. “Look, I’ll go pick out the prettiest fucking spoons you’ve ever seen in the dining hall and you go get that soup, wherever it fucking is. Don’t even think about ditchin’ me or else I’ll kill your ass for it!”

Kazuichi was left pretty dumbfounded as Fuyuhiko walked away. He couldn’t believe it was _Fuyuhiko_ who had to essentially _save_ him as if he were some damsel in distress over a vending machine. He thoughtlessly walked back to his cottage, picked up the now lukewarm container of soup, and almost walked into the pool. He snapped out of his own mind just in time to turn before the pool started, then he headed up the stairs to the restaurant whilst nearly tripping up the stairs. Safe to say, it was not a very good day for Kazuichi Soda.

Fuyuhiko was sitting alone at a middle table, holding two very average looking spoons in his hand. Next to him were two very average looking bowls Luckily, there wasn’t anyone else at the dining hall since it was between breakfast and lunch.  _ Heh… Brunch time… _

“Hey bastard, bring that soup over here, I’m starving!”

“Kinda disappointed you didn’t actually get fancy spoons, heh” Kazuichi said as he took the seat next to Fuyuhiko. Fuyuhiko gives Kazuichi a death glare as he snatches the soup from Kazuichi’s hands and starts to pour it into their respective bowls. Fuyuhiko started digging in immediately, but Kazuichi hesitated.

“You like it?” Kazuichi asked.

“Yeah.” Fuyuhiko replied, not even looking up from his bowl. There was a bit of silence that followed, Kazuichi slowly stirring his rapidly-colding soup. 

“I’m probably gonna nuke mine… do you want me to warm yours up?” Kazuichi asked tentatively. 

“Nah, I’m good. Still the best soup I’ve ever had.” Kazuichi got up and went to the restaurant’s kitchen, quickly finding the microwave and popping the soup in for a minute. He made sure to take the spoon out this time; in the past he had not been so wise. 

When Kazuichi got back from the kitchen with his warm soup, Fuyuhiko was sitting back in his chair, looking much happier. His bowl was empty and his feet were on the table. He was idly tapping his fingers while looking up at the ceiling. Kazuichi sat back down next to Fuyuhiko, unsure whether or not Fuyuhiko even wanted Kazuichi there, or if what Fuyuhiko really wanted was for Kazuichi to leave him alone.

“Hey, we should do this again sometime.” Fuyuhiko said , putting his feet back on the ground, turning to face Kazuichi. Kazuichi had just begun drinking the soup, and Fuyuhiko was right. It was very delicious indeed, the right amount of savory, not too salty, and a bit of tang at the end. 

“I mean, you could just ask Teruteru to make you somethin’ if you can stand his… advances.” Kazuichi took another spoonful of soup. “I don’t want’cha to have to break up a fight every time ya want soup.” Kazuichi said the last bit more so under his breath. He did feel bad Fuyuhiko had to save him from that weird guy who likes to make animals fuck. 

“Just so we’re clear, we’re not fucking friends, but it is nice to eat undisturbed by the other guys. I didn’t even hafta pick through that huge buffet in the mornin’ to get somethin’ I wanted, you just had it for me. It was nice.”  _ So he just wants me to get him his food so he can eat alone… better than outright hating me.  _ Kazuichi had finished most of his meal by this point; it was really hard not to gulp it all down at one point. 

“Yeah, it’s nice eating brunch without havin’ to look at Sonia faun over that creep.” Kazuichi said with a sigh.

“Who? Gundham? What’s your fucking deal with him man? Nobody right in the head fights in a supermarket.” 

“I dunno, he was just standin’ there all weird, talking to his hamsters. Lookin’ at him makes me fucking mad.”

“That’s it? You’ve got some fuckin’ problem, you know that? I’m not tryna get buddy-buddy with you, but who gives a fuck? His job is to breed those things.” Kazuichi sat and stared at his now empty bowl. He was right, he  _ shouldn’t _ have given a fuck. When he looks at Gundham, his mind just gets going. 

“It’s prolly the way he acts with Miss Sonia. She’s a princess, she deserves the best. A-and I can give her that!” Kazuichi said.

“Psh. You like her? Name one thing she’s said.” Kazuichi had to think about that. He’d stared at her plenty. He’d been looking at her all the time, why couldn’t he think of anything.  _ Probably just nerves. _

“Th-that doesn’t matter! What matters is the true love I have for her! She is the woman for me and I know it!”

“Oh come on, that’s bullshit. I’m out of here. I don’t need to listen to your shit.” Fuyuhiko got out of his chair and headed to the door. He paused before leaving. 

“I bet you can remember everything Gundham has said to you.” Fuyuhiko said as he went out of the restaurant.

Kazuichi was a bit dumbfounded, but he was right. He could remember Gundham calling himself the Supreme Overlord of Ice when they just met. He could remember Gundham asking San-D if they wanted something from the vending machine. He could remember Gundham saying how he wouldn’t stoop to courting a girl when he first met her, like Kazuichi did. He couldn’t even remember Sonia’s response to that. 

_ Whatever, it is probably just because I get so nervous around her, yeah! That’s gotta be it… _ Kazuichi knew he was lying to himself, but he didn’t care. Whatever made him forget what Sonia said and remember what Gundham did was a bad thing.  _ It has to be jealousy, there’s nothing else it could be. Why else would I feel so angry when looking at him?  _

__ With his crushes in the past he could remember what they said to him. He cherished what they had to say, no matter how small. He felt that same way for Sonia, but why couldn’t he remember? Kazuichi wasn’t even sure if she had ever said his name; that was always something Kazuichi latched onto.  _ All my other crushes have looked something like Sonia before, I mean I know I have always had a thing for blondes. Maybe it’s a super crush! I must be so blinded by my love for her that I don’t even need to remember what she says, I just have to feel it. Yeah. That’s gotta be it. _

Kazuichi was satisfied with his own rationale and headed to his cottage to wait the rest of the day out. He’d just ate even though it was practically lunchtime. Kazuichi decided he would take apart his own alarm clock a couple times and not think about Gundham… or Sonia for the rest of the day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading!! pls like comment and bookmark :) 
> 
> shoutout to my shift key for LITERALLY falling off while writing this. i need more ductape. byakuya togami wouldnt treat me like this. hed buy me a new laptop all together. i'd have the best gaming setup. anyway i dont ship myself with byakuya just thought 
> 
> n e way kazuichi finally gets his soup . i promise next chapter there will be like danganronpa murdery stuff im just trying to follow the like free time day-> free time day ->motive->murder thing danganronpa does


	4. Monokuma's Shakespearean Theater

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monokuma drops his first motive and the entire class is shaken by it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow my twitter @trinscabbage please please please

Kazuichi managed not to think about anyone else for the rest of the day, instead tinkering with his alarm clock since it was the only piece of technology he could find with running parts. He took it apart, examined it, then reworked it into a couple of different things, although they were mostly baby toys with simple mechanisms. After all, the alarm clock he had was simple. 

Just before Kazuichi was going to eat dinner, a Monokuma announcement played requiring all students to head to Jabberwalk Park with the added bonus of free curry to whoever got there first.  _ Hey I can run pretty fast I bet… and I was just chargin’ up my energy sittin’ and building… yeah I can get that curry _ , Kazuichi thought as he started sprinting to the direction of the park. 

He was able to get to the park without falling despite it being too dark to see potential hazards. Unfortunately, he forgot he was competing with the food crazy ultimate gymnast, so there was no curry for Kazuichi. He noticed there was a stage to the right of the park’s timer in the middle. It had what looked to be a high quality velvet curtain and some dark stained wood as its floor. Kazuichi assumed it was an estimate of 2 feet off the floor. The wings of the stage weren’t very big, smaller than the average outdoor theater. 

“How long’s it gonna take for Monokuma to get here? I want that curry!” Akane said as Kazuichi spotted Fuyuhiko, the final person to arrive. Kazuichi was also surprised that Monokuma hadn’t instantly appeared. 

“Are you sure you want to take a meal from that guy… he’s kind of sketchy.” Mahiru said.

“Food’s food to me!”

“Gyahahaha! You sure do love to eat Akane, but ya gotta work on trainin’ that food off more.” Nekomaru said. It was more of a shout by Kazuichi’s standards, but Nekomaru just takes up an entire room with his presence. 

“Ugh, you boys need to have more manners! It’s rude to talk to a woman about her weight.” Mahiru responded pointedly. 

“Maybe Akane will become as obese as Byakuya! They both eat the same amount…” Hiyoko chimed in while giggling. Mahiru looked disappointingly at Hiyoko while Akane and Nekomaru just laughed at the remark. There was a bit of silence before Kazuichi got annoyed at Monokuma’s lateness to his own event. His stomach growled at the thought of the curry Akane was going to receive.

“What does he want now? I forgot to eat dinner, so I hope this is quick.” Kazuichi said, tapping his foot in annoyance. 

“You didn’t need to come then.” Fuyuhiko replied with a smirk on his face. Kazuichi was shocked to hear that from the guy he was sharing soup with earlier in the same day. 

“Y-you saw those monsters he had… I don’t know what will happen if I don’t come so…” Kazuichi trailed off, regretting speaking. 

“Why didn’t ya find out for us? We could stand to lose a spare like you.” 

“No, I will not stand to lose anyone. Stop this now, Fuyuhiko.” Byakuya interjected

“What’re ya gonna do? Kill me? Not like ya could do it anyway.” 

“Fuyuhiko, I know this is stressful, but please, you don’t need to threaten-” Sonia tried to dispel the situation. 

“Stressful? Don’t treat me like a fucking kid, bitch ! This is nothing!” 

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want us-” Sonia started.

“Us? I’m not friends with you all. I could kill you all right now if it wasn’t a waste of my fucking time to do it!” Fuyuhiko said, voice rising with every word. 

“That’s enough.” Peko said in a low, monotone voice.

“I told you not to treat me like a fucking kid!” Fuyuhiko had stopped talking though, instead looking down at the ground.  _ Guess treating you like a kid did work… eventually. _

Before anyone else could get a word in, Monomi suddenly appeared and struggled to get onto the stage, tripping on her way up. She meekly stood in the center in front of the curtain which gathered everyone’s attention. “Uhm… The Monokuma Shakespearean company presents:  _ The Headmaster’s Dilemma _ ! Please, no phones and no talking during the show!” She waddled into one of the wings, then the curtain was drawn.

Monokuma was posed in the middle of the stage wearing a beret with a feather on it, looking wistfully at the night sky. He slowly and very dramatically turned at his audience. Kazuichi rolled his eyes while confusion set in on the crowd. 

“I wanteth to beest the most wondrous headmast'r,” Monokuma turned his head dramatically to the floor as he spoke. “But i eke wanteth to seeth all of mine own students as bloody c’rpses!” 

“Uh, does anyone know what he’s tryin’ to say? He’s makin’ my head hurt!” Akane spoke up. Kazuichi was thankful he wasn’t the one who had to answer the question. 

“Yes! I had to memorize a few Shakespearean works in my youth, as is my kingdom’s tradition. He’s saying something like ‘i want to be the best headmaster, but i want to see all my students as bloody corpses.’” Sonia said, her eyes lighting up at the chance to contribute to the group. It amazed Kazuichi that a princess could be hot and smart at the same time.

“Th-thank you Miss Sonia for your service to us! Not that I needed it, I-”

“Shhh!” Kazuichi was cut off by Mahiru shushing him, for Monomi was now on stage as well. She wore a nice pink dress, but it looked old fashioned. 

“Uwah! Y-you’ll never be a good headmaster if your students are dead! Violence is unbecoming of a teacher!” Monomi said directly to Monokuma. Monokuma turned his back to Monomi, looking up at the night sky once more. 

“But mine own heart wanteth to seeth those folk all mangl'd and bruised, their final breath taken hence from their innocent dram mouths. I careth so much about mine own pupils yond I can not beareth missing their dearest deaths!” Monokuma said in a low voice. The students turned to Sonia for a translation of whatever he just said. Kazuichi didn’t even know why he’d bother listening to Monokuma.

“Uhm… I think it was something like ‘but my heart wants to see them all mangled and bruised, their final breath taken away. I care so much about my pupils that I can not bear missing their deaths.’” 

“That is… not logic made by the mentally well…” Gundham said a bit under his breath. Kazuichi couldn’t help but hear it though, even if no one else did. 

“But Mister Monokuma, you can’t do that to them. They should feel happy during their highschool years!” Monokuma suddenly turned towards Monomi.

“Wherefore sayeth mine own children wonneth't beest joyous?!” Monokuma took a dramatic pause, allowing Sonia to translate.

“He said ‘Who says my kids won’t be happy?’”  _ His kids? Ew. I would take my own dad over Monokuma. _

“Aft'r all, I'm the one who is't hast to remaketh all of their school mem'ries” Monokuma said evilly to Monomi. Monomi looked visibly distressed, sweating and looking at the stage floor.

“I-I don’t know anything a-about that…”

“Wait! Sonia, what’s Monokuma say? Somethin’ about school?” Akane piped up before anyone else could get a word in. With all eyes on Sonia, Kazuichi noticed she was sweating a little.  _ Nah, princesses don’t sweat, her beauty is glistening! _

“This doesn’t make sense… what I got from him was ‘after all, I'm the one who has to remake all of their school memories.’ I do not recall going to school with any of you.” Even more confusion set in.

“Oh come on, this is just one of Monokuma’s lies. Don’t fall for it.” Byakuya said confidently, crossing his arms. 

“How s'rrowful, t is true yond thee mem'ries w're taken hence. Taken hence by the dreadful and like a toad, ugly and venemous Monomi! The tempest is the true villain of this melodrama, what a plot twisteth! the lady tooketh hence all of thy wond'rful school mem'ries at Hope's Peak Academy! What's w'rse is yond the lady didn't w'rk high-lone. th're is a trait'r 'mongst thee! one of mine own fine pupils did betray the rest of thee!” Monomi had started crying, mushrooms growing from her head. She was shaking in place like a scared chihuahua. Everyone looked towards Sonia who was just as pale as Monomi’s white half. 

“This must not be correct, but as a fellow student I must say what I think I heard… from the beginning it is something like ‘It is so sad but true that your memories were taken away by Monomi… She is the true villain who stole our memories from our time at Hope’s Peak academy. What’s worse is…’” Sonia had to take a pause for herself to stop her shaking. “‘She did not work alone… there is a traitor among the rest of my students…’” Sonia looked down, almost ashamed at what she had just translated. 

Everyone stopped and thought for a moment before it seemed that they all spoke at the same time. “What’s happening?” “Is it true?” “Who’s the traitor?” were all questions asked at the same time. A very annoyed Monokuma faced the audience, then faced back at Monomi.

“Damn you, Monomi! I thought I told you to tell them not to talk during a play!!” Monokuma said as he punched Monomi right in the jaw.

“Uwah! This wasn’t in the script! His uppercut is too much to handle!” Monomi said as she curled up into a ball on the floor. Everyone else was reeling from the idea that they all had amnesia of their vital school memories. 

“Now that the dumb bear broke character, tell us. You must be lying, there is no way memories can just be stolen.” Byakuya said, taking a step forward to confront Monokuma better. Many others piped in, agreeing with Byakuya that there is no way they could forget something so important. 

“Upupupu… it’s true, all of your school memories are lost! Monomi and the traitor took them away!”

“W-well, you should give ‘em back!” Akane said angrily. 

“No, don’t be foolish. This thing is lying, there is no way we all lost our memories. There is no proof!” Byakuya said, starting to sweat a little.

“Y-you’re right… I won’t believe… I won’t believe it!” Teruteru said to himself.

“You just don’t want to believe it. How tragic, as I was going to offer you a very fair exchange for your memories back…” Monokuma turned his back to his audience, trying to look sad. 

“Wh-what is the exchange for? What must we do?” Sonia asked Monokuma with fear in her voice. Monokuma slowly turned around with a smile on his face.

“YOU HAVE TO KILL EACH OTHER OF COURSE! Bahahaha!” Monokuma continued to chuckle to himself. “Aren’t I a fair and kind headmaster?”

“No you’re not! You’re a mean and cruel headmaster. Don’t listen to his foul words!” 

“You’re such a dumb child, of course you wouldn’t want anyone to have their memories back! Afterall, Monomi and the traitor  **worked together** to  **take away your memories** .” 

“S-stop it!” Monomi shouted.

“W-w-wait, a t-traitor? I-I promise it’s n-not me!” Mikan sputtered out. 

“Of course it’s not, no one would ever want pigshit like you to work on their side!” Hiyoko taunted Mikan as she cried and said her apologies. 

“There’s a traitor? There’s no way… after all… you guys are all prized ultimates… you could never do something so sickening as that, right? We’re all friends here.” Nagito said.

“Nagito is right! There is no way there is a traitor, we mustn’t believe Monokuma or his lies!” Sonia responded.

“Oh, such a shame you want to deny the truth! I guess it can’t be helped, even though you guys don’t even remember how you got here. But anyway, you all already ruined my show and now you think I, your headmaster, would lie? You make me so upset…” Monokuma said as he left. All the rest of the students stared at Monomi, still shaking with fear and sweating. She left a moment after Monokuma, leaving everyone to themselves.

Kazuichi didn’t want to think about the possibility of losing his memories. Monokuma was right; he didn’t remember how he got to the island. Surely he’d remember his horrendous motion sickness to get to an island.  _ I remembered taking a train to Hope’s Peak and looking up at the building, but…  _ Kazuichi winced to himself.

“Why can’t I remember?!” Kazuichi’s words came out as broken sobs, gathering everyone’s attention. He hadn’t realized he had been crying before he opened his mouth. No one had been talking, just standing in silence. “I-I don’t remember how I got here… I get motion sick so I-I know I’d r-remember getting on a b-boat or a plane or a-” 

“It is unlikely Monokuma is telling the truth. Just because we do not remember how does not mean we have forgotten two years of schooling!” Sonia said, standing her ground and trying not to look upset. She was really trying to step up to the co-leader role she had been assigned. 

“If Sonia says he’s lying, I believe her. She’s more truthful than that bear.” Mahiru said, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere. It didn’t work and the students were sent back into silence.

“I want to believe her too…” Chiaki said. The usually quiet girl spoke up, garnering everyone’s attention. “There’s no reason to believe Monokuma… and even though there’s no reason to believe Sonia… I want to… because she’s my friend…” The air around them seemed to relax a bit, while most people mumbled their agreements.  _ How could they even call Miss Sonia their friend, we haven’t even known each other for that long… If Sonia is right, then we have just met… _ Kazuichi’s head hurt and his lungs felt like they were going to collapse. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything but stand there.

Fuyuhiko was the first to leave the scene, which was right after Chiaki finished speaking. It was no surprise, since he expressed no interest in becoming friends with anyone. Peko left next, then Byakuya, then Kazuichi stopped paying attention. He had to focus on his own breathing before he had the strength to leave. He watched as his own feet started walking towards the bridge to the first island. 

Kazuichi took a pause as he felt the dirt path become wood, deciding to look down the long bridge. The air felt cooler than it was during the day, but still warm enough to be comfortable. There was a slight breeze, but that only made the ocean look more daunting than it already was at night. The bridge swayed slightly with the waves underneath it which only made Kazuichi’s stomach churn more.  _ I really hope I don’t get motion sick from this stupid bridge. _

Kazuichi tried his best to walk in a straight line and focus on the trees in the distance, but his lack of sleep, hunger from not eating dinner, and dehydration from crying forced him to lose concentration. His stomach churning got worse as he drifted more towards the railing of the bridge. He stopped, gripping the railing for dear life, before hurling his stomach bile over the edge of the bridge.  _ Does this count as littering? Am I gonna die because of this?!  _ Kazuichi’s anxiety only made his stomach worse.

He continued to lean over the railing, mostly spitting into the dark ocean below until he psyched himself up to move, then repeating the same process. Kazuichi did this for a few more times before he felt a presence next to him.  _ Welp, I am going to die here for sure. Please let me build a rocket in heaven, God! _

“Are you alright?” A quiet, low voice spoke as a hand rested gently on Kazuichi’s shoulder.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine-” Kazuichi began to respond until he realized who was talking to him. Kazuichi shook his head to try to tell if he was delusional, which only worsened his nausea. He looked up at who was standing next to him.

Tanaka.

“Hey, why ya touch-” Kazuichi was cut off by a gag. Talking was not going to help him here.  _ My motion sickness is going to be the thing that kills me. Of course.  _ Kazuichi tried to get off the railing and walk away quickly, suppressing his nausea as much as he could. 

He made it a few more yards until he had to lean on the railing again, this time still moving as he tried much harder to concentrate on the horizon. He knew out of the corner of his eye that Gundham was walking with him, but he needed to try not to throw up again especially in front of his rival. The breeze had calmed a bit which made the bridge sway less, helping his motion sickness.  _ It still doesn’t make sense why I would get so sick from a swaying bridge. I know I didn’t eat, but I thought this just happened with cars n’ stuff… _

He eventually made it all the way across the bridge and to his cottage, Gundham still walking silently next to him.  _ What the fuck is this guy’s problem?  _ Kazuichi shot him a dirty look at Gundham as he walked past Kazuichi’s cottage. Gundham paused before entering his room and looked back at Kazuichi, their eyes meeting for a second before kazuichi rushed into his own dorm. His heart was pounding in his chest.

_ Gundham Tanaka just tried to murder me, but he chickened out.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long, i planned out all the murder and trial stuff for next chapter and the chapters beyond
> 
> im going to have to make kazuichi smarter than he is so he can participate in a class trial and use all the evidence i made... like im real exciited to do this trial so pls like comment and subscribe


	5. Party Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazuichi tries to recover from the night before while the two co-leaders try to make everyone bond together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long!! I've been stressed with school and finals are next week for me so !! but i really hope you enjoy... ALSO!! I promise not all the motives will be the same, but this one is pretty vital to the story sooo yeah
> 
> please follow me on my social medias on twitter and tumblr @trinscabbage ,,, please send in soudam asks to my blog i will blow u a kiss

Kazuichi leaned back against his cottage door as he slumped down to the floor. He curled himself up, hands in his head and elbows resting on his knees. _Was Gundham that quick to kill after the motive? He really believed it? What if they wouldn’t have found my body? There wouldn’t even be a trial, would there? Maybe that’s why he didn’t do it… it wasn’t worth it to him. Why me? Why now, so suddenly?_ Kazuichi’s head was spinning with unanswered questions. 

He knew that Gundham could have killed him. Deep down, Kazuichi knew Gundham was stronger than him in every way. The fight was more than enough proof for him. _So why didn’t he? It was practically a perfect time; even if the body wasn’t discovered until later, there would be basically no proof that he did it… He hates me anyway, why didn’t he? Why?_ Kazuichi couldn’t stop repeating the same questions to himself, terrified of being vulnerable to attack again. He was terrified of dying. 

After sulking for a good bit, Kazuichi finally decided two things. First of all, he would not go on that bridge without a trusted friend. Second, he needed to go to bed. He stood up, took off his jumpsuit and flopped into bed, trying not to think about how weak he was. Kazuichi slowly fell into a dreamless sleep.

Kazuichi woke up the morning after feeling groggy as ever. He looked at his alarm clock and saw it was 6 o’clock, his normal time to wake up. He rolled out of bed and got dressed as anxious nausea set in. “ _Gundham tried to kill me”_ repeated in his head as he walked out the door towards the restaurant. He took long, deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Kazuichi concentrated on the cool railing as he walked up, smelling the breakfast spread. The aroma only made his stomach churn more.

The Monokuma announcement played as he sat down at one of the tables a bit distanced from the rest of the group, not wanting anyone asking why he looked sick. He waited until Hajime showed up and quickly went over to the other, sitting next to the only half friend he had. He needed to tell Hajime about what happened, but he couldn’t do it with Teruteru and Chiaki also at the table. Not to mention there were also people like Nagito, Sonia, and Gundham sitting at the table directly behind him. His stomach settled enough to let Kazuichi eat a slice of toast and some apple juice because of Hajime’s presence. 

Kazuichi took in the scene around him, his classmates smiling and laughing at breakfast. Miss Sonia was talking to Byakuya, Akane was shoveling food in her mouth and TeruTeru was staring at her with a nosebleed. Fuyuhiko was at a table by himself, eating a waffle as Peko was watching him out of the corner of her eye. Everything seemed so _normal_ to Kazuichi. It was unsettling. 

“Alright everyone! Your leaders have an announcement to make!” Sonia said excitedly as she stood up from her chair.

“Yes, Sonia is right. First I want to survey you all to see where we are about fighting Monokuma. How well are our bonds together, would you all say?” Byakuya added. Everyone was silent as if it were real school and the teacher asked a question no one knew. Kazuichi himself hung out with Hajime once, talked to Fuyuhiko a bit, ogled at Miss Sonia, and made an enemy of Gundham. 

“Well… since it seems we have not fully become friends yet, we are deciding to throw a party tomorrow to strengthen our bonds!” Sonia said in response to the silence.

“Yes, in order to defeat Monokuma and uncover his lies, we must all work together. No one will die on my watch.” Byakuya replied. 

“I have studied many parties and I determined that we will need preperations for a true party! It will be at night since that is when the _cool_ kids par-tay!” She said, exaggerating the word party which made her sound like a middle age woman trying to relate to her kids. 

“Er, yes. The party will be after the Monokuma announcement tomorrow. Teruteru, I assume you would be willing to cook for the party?” Byakuya added. 

“Oh yes I can! I’ll make dishes so tasty that you’re going to beg me for more! And I want to see you all beg~!” Teruteru said excitedly.

“Oh good! I think it would be nice to have a change of scenery from this restaurant… hmm… where else do you all suppose would be a good place for a party?” Sonia asked, addressing the rest of the students. Kazuichi was too tired and stressed to think about places or things and instead just let the other people answer for him. 

“What about the pool? We could have a pool party… I think” Chiaki suggested. 

“I don’t want you degenerates to see me in anything less than a yukata, you pedophiles. Plus the chlorine smells sooooooo bad, almost as bad as Mikan’s nasty stench!” Hiyoko said, refuting Chiaki.

“I-I’m sorry! I promise I-I sh-shower every day!” Mikan said, crying as usual.

“Hiyoko, I don’t think you need to be so rude, but I agree. I don’t like to eat food while I’m soggy and I don’t wanna get my camera wet…” Mahiru added. 

“Ah, I see. There are other places on the island…” Chiaki said while yawning. There was a beat of silence before Nagito spoke up.

“What about that old building? We could clean it up and throw a grand party there!” Nagito said excitedly. That dude still creeped Kazuichi out. 

“I thought Monomi said we couldn’t go into that building?” Chiaki questions. Suddenly, Monomi waddled up the stairs and climbed up on a chair.

“Did I hear something about a party? Sounds like a fun way to get to know your fellow classmates!! You all can go in the old building if it’s for friendship!” Monomi said cheerfully as she did a little spin. An awkward silence set in because the students were still unsure if Monomi was to be trusted. Monomi made a sad little noise as she walked out the door of the restaurant. 

“Well, unless anyone has objections, we shall have the party there. There is a kitchen in the building, so I hope that will be satisfactory for you, Teruteru.” Byakuya stated.

“I can make anything work for me, I’m sure it’ll be just fine. It’s not the size or the shape that counts, it’s how you use it!” Teruteru replied, making everyone else feel uncomfortable yet again. 

“Well, who is going to clean then?” Peko asked. 

“It ain’t gonna be me! I didn’t sign up for this kumbaya shit, I’m not your fuckin’ friends!” Fuyuhiko started yelling, seemingly only listening to what Peko had to say.

“Well, it is alright if you do not clean, as Byakuya and I were planning to do most of the party preparations anyway. As long as you are going, it will be alright with me.” Sonia said with a smile on her face. _Man, she really does look beautiful._

“Why do you give a shit whether I’m goin’ or not?” 

“The point of the par-tay is to form a bond, so it is best that everyone is able to go.” _Sonia’s startin’ to sound like that Nagito guy._

“You think I care about some fuckin’ bond? I could kill all of you!” Fuyuhiko said as Sonia looked dejected. 

“Well, if you do not wish to go, then I suppose there is nothing I can do.” She replied, forcing a smile. 

“How dare you disrespect Miss Sonia like that!” Kazuichi replied angrily.

“We wouldn’t want you there if you said you’re going to kill us! That’s rude!” Mahiru said, pointing a disapproving finger at Fuyuhiko. 

“Great, another reason not to go! Whatever, I knew I shouldn’t have come today.” Fuyuhiko was about to stand up when Kazuichi decided to speak.

“Why’d ya come then?” Kazuichi asked, regretting saying anything as soon as it came out of his mouth. Fuyuhiko scowled at him while the rest of the restaurant was silent. _Fuck, shit, fuck I should not have said anything! Why did I decide to provoke the guy who was a literal Yakuza?_

“None of your fuckin’ business.” Fuyuhiko said in a low tone, relaxing back into his chair. 

“Well if you’re not leaving you might as well tell us!” Mahiru said to Fuyuhiko.

“Tch, all I wanted was to ask the pig chef over there if he could make some more of that soup from yesterday.” There was some silence as the rest of the students were a bit confused on how Fuyuhiko tasted the soup while also still feeling uneasy after Fuyuhiko’s threat.

“I was going to make some soup for the party if you wanted it, Fuyuhiko. I promise it’ll be really good, I’ll have it cooking all through today and into tomorrow.” Teruteru said as he spoke up. _Wow, this guy is actually able to go a sentence without needing to jerk off? Impressive._

Fuyuhiko thought for a second before speaking. “Fine, I’ll go. Don’t expect me to talk to you fuckers though, I’m only there for the food!”

“I’m going to cook the best soup you’ve ever had, why, you’ll want to talk to me and more afterwards!” Teruteru replied, leaning in.

“Fuck off, bastard!” Fuyuhiko said as he left. Apparently, Teruteru was the last straw. 

“Well, now that he is all settled, I shall be going to the old building shortly to start cleaning.” Sonia turned to Teruteru before leaving. “Whenever you want to start cooking, feel free to do so. And thank you for convincing Fuyuhiko to join us tomorrow, it is crucial that every single one of us become good friends!” She said, flexing and putting her hand on her arm, eyes sparkling. Kazuichi couldn’t help but gawk.

“Th-thank you M-miss Sonia for giving the amazing idea that we should have a party! I can’t wait! As a good man, I simply can not have a princess like you cleaning, so I volunteer to take your place!” Kazuichi said triumphantly. _I have to impress her, and there’s no way I’d let her dirty her reputation like that!_ Kazuichi felt a prick on the back of his head, quickly turning around. He didn’t see anything unusual, maybe it was just his hat snagging at his hair, or Gundham flicking him for talking to Sonia. 

“No, that will not be necessary. I am quite excited to clean, for I have never done it before!” Sonia said with a smile as she walked out. _Welp, looks like I just have to try again._

The rest of the students were eating and chatting amongst themselves when Gundham started to move towards Kazuichi. Kazuichi’s stomach started to churn once again, making him feel even more nauseous than before breakfast. _He can’t kill me in broad daylight, can he?_

“Ahem, Teruteru. I have come to inquire if there will be cuisine suitable for my **Four Dark Devas of Destruction** and, of course, myself..”

“Of course they will! They’ll be so tasty, it won’t be the only meat that you will be stuffing in your mouth!” Terteru said with a smile. Gundham looked displeased.

“You brash mortal, you twist my words! Besides, I am enlightened enough to know that it is senseless to kill exclusively for human consumption, for hellish beasts deserve to die in battles they have fought for their entire lives!” There was a bit of silence as Teruteru looked confused, as did Kazuichi. 

“I think he is asking if you are going to make any vegetarian dishes.” Hajime said, clarifying for the other two.

“Oh of course Gundham, anything for you, but I do hope you are not opposed to eating the second meat I am _always_ offering~” Teruteru said to Gundham as he blushed behind his scarf. 

“A wise man does not sell himself so quickly,” Gundham glanced at Kazuichi. Kazuichi frowned at the other. “However, I am intrigued about this soup Fuyuhiko likes so much. If it can persuade the stubborn one to join our gathering, then I must inspect it for its evil powers!”

“Uh yeah, I’ll make some vegetarian soup for you. I know the best recipes after all!” Teruteru said. 

“Very well.” Gundham said as he left. Teruteru followed him outside, presumably to start cooking. 

“Jeez, what’s his problem…” Kazuichi said under his breath.

“What, Gundham? Again? He just wanted to be able to eat something at the party.” Hajime replied. At this point they were the last two in the restaurant, as it was well past their meeting time of 7 o’clock. 

“Just the… everything about him. He’s so up his own ass!” Kazuichi said, trying to explain his jealousy. Kazuichi felt sick trying to muster up the courage to tell Hajime about last night. 

“Dude, that’s not a reason. I’m gonna leave to take a nap if you’re just gonna complain about Gundham…” Hajime said as he got out of his chair to leave.

“Wait!” Kazuichi said in a worried tone. Hajime looked at him expectantly. “Uhm, well, can we go back to my cottage to talk about it? It’s… private.”

“Ok-”

“B-but not in THAT way, you know! We’re just bros, it’s not like I wanna sleep with ya, hehe.” Kazuichi said as he nervously laughed.

“I didn’t think that before, but now I’m slightly worried.” Hajime replied while Kazuichi looked down. _Damnit, I fucked up again, I’m such a-_ “Dude, it’s fine. I already said I would. Let’s get going.” Hajime said as he elbowed Kazuichi. It was a good enough nudge to get Kazuichi back to his senses as the two of them walked to Kazuichi’s cottage. 

As soon as Kazuichi closed the door behind him and Hajime, he couldn’t help but feel nervous all over again. _I just have to say it without thinking, I just have to say it without thinking! Hajime is my friend, he will believe me!_

“Gundham tried to murder me last night!” Kazuichi said, covering his mouth right afterwards, as if he accidentally cursed in front of a child. 

“What?! Why didn’t you tell Byakuya or Sonia?”

“I-I didn’t think of it! Th-they were all talking about th-the party a-and-” Kazuichi had started to tear up.

“Hey, it’s alright, I was just surprised. What happened?” Hajime said as both of them sat down on Kazuichi’s bed. 

“W-well, I was walking across the bridge to get back to the first island and the bridge was really swaying because of the water, so I got motion sick. I wanted to throw up, but not in the middle of the bridge, so I started hurlin’ over the side, yeah?” Kazuichi took a pause and Hajime looked a bit grossed out. “What? I get motion sick! Whatever, so then I felt somebody next to me a-and… I looked up and saw Gundham just… starin’ at me. With his eyes. _His scary eyes_. And THEN he asked me if I was okay! I, of course, said I was fine and started to hobble across the bride, but then he kept followin’ me! What was up with that!? He followed me all the way back to my room, and then kept lookin’ at me until I ran into my room! It was terrifying!” Kazuichi finished out of breath. He looked over at Hajime, expecting him to be horrified at the tragic tale he just heard, but instead Hajime looked a bit confused.

“Are you sure he wasn’t just trying to help you?” Kazuichi was appalled. 

“Help me?! He hates my guts! We just got a motive, and he saw me vulnerable! He was gonna push me over the edge, but he chickened out!”

“He asked if you were okay, man. He was definitely trying to help you.” 

“W-well, why did he walk to my cottage with me then?”

“He could have just wanted to make sure you didn’t like, collapse on the way back from throwing up. He probably knows about sickness from caring for so many animals…” Kazuichi was getting increasingly more flustered over this argument with Hajime. 

“I’m not some fuckin’ animal that needs to be taken care of! He doesn’t even like me”

“Despite what he says, the guy’s still a human and he probably didn’t want you to get taken advantage of by anyone else?” Hajime said, sounding apprehensive. 

“He literally almost slammed me into the ground a few days ago!” Kazuichi exclaimed.

“He what?!” _Oh._ He hadn’t told Hajime about that.

“Gundham and I were about to fight, after he blocked all my punches he was gonna throw me before Fuyuhiko broke it off…” Hajime looked dumbfounded “What?” Kazuichi asked. 

“Gundham won’t even let me get near him, let alone touch him because of his quote unquote ‘poison skin.’”

“GYAHHH!! He’s touched me two times now!! I’m POISONED!! That’s how he’s gonna kill me!” Kazuichi started freaking out again, hiding his eyes behind his hat.

“Kazuichi, people can’t actually have poison skin. The dude says only **‘the singularity’** can touch him, so I was just thinking it might be you. I don’t know though, the dude’s weird. He could’ve just wanted to poison you or something. He did want to fight you.” _Maybe him touching me last night on the bridge was his way of trying to psych himself up to push me? From poisoning me first? I dunno…_

“Ugh, can we talk about somethin’ else? I’m startin’ to get a headache from talkin’ about that guy.” 

“You’re the one who wanted to bring him up, but sure. I don’t mind hanging out with you, man. Anything on your mind?” Hajime said.

“Man, why aren’t there any vehicles on the island? I wanna take apart something with an engine, yknow? There’s only so many times I can take apart my alarm clock.” 

“Like a baby carriage?”

“Baby carriages don’t have engines! Even I’m smart enough to know that. C’mon!” Kazuichi just wanted to see if Hajime knew what engines were even in.

“Uh… like a car?”

“Yes! A car, good job bro. I was scared for a sec you wouldn’t get it, hehe.” Kazuichi continued to talk about cars and other vehicles for a while, expressing his frustrations to Hajime. It felt really good just to have a normal conversation, one on one with someone. Eventually, Hajime left after they had both gotten lunch together, saying he wanted to rest in his cabin or something. For Kazuichi, that meant he had time to kill, so he decided to stroll around the island, sitting on the beach and trying to relax. He was absentmindedly looking for Sonia, but couldn’t seem to find her anywhere. _Must still be setting up for tomorrow night… She’s really driven, huh..._

After a peaceful afternoon of relaxing, Kazuichi naturally went into his nighttime routine. He took a shower, took out his contacts and laid down right as the Monokuma announcement played. He felt confident that Monokuma was lying to them and everyone would escape. Kazuichi rolled over a few times before finding a comfortable spot, drifting off into a nice sleep easily. A very needed relaxing end to a stressful few days.

That is, until he was awoken by frantic knocking at his door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:)
> 
> please like comment subscribe and follow me and twitter and tumblr @TrinsCabbage  
> also yall can send me asks on tumblr for story ideas maybe ill write a lil thing abt it or ill implement it into this one :P  
> im hopinh to get the next chapter out quicker because i am excited to write it, but also finals next week so AHH


	6. The First Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byakuya was franticaly knocking on Kazuichi's door, screaming to get everyone awake. Who knows why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii please follow my socials @TrinsCabbage and send me more tumblr asks,, thank u the 2 anons that did !! :D
> 
> i really hope you all like this chapter, i worked really hard on it!! sorry if kazuichi is ooc by being smarter than usual but i had to, el oh el...
> 
> **There are going to be Trigger warnings throughout the chapter instead of the beginning as to not spoil. PLEASE don't purposefully trigger yourself, please be safe!!!**

Kazuichi rolled over, hiding himself under the covers. _Who was that? How much sleep did I even get… ugh.. Wait, why is someone knocking at my door at night?_ Knocking was an understatement, it seemed like whoever was trying to get Kazuichi awake needed to and needed to now. Kazuichi then got out of bed and threw on his jumpsuit, before getting ready to go out the door-

“There has been a murder, I NEED YOU ALL TO WAKE UP! NOW!” Byakuya’s voice boomed through Kazuichi’s cottage walls. He instantly opened his door to see Hajime had done the same across the way, and Byakuya was standing in the middle of them. 

“What? This can’t be true I-I-I mean-” Kazuichi started

“Where?! I have to see it for myself!” Hajime yelled out over him to Byakuya. 

“Old building, in the kitchen… It’s… horrid… I feel so horrible as a leader… but I must press on!” Byakuya said, almost losing his composure. Kazuichi instinctively started running to the old building. _There’s no way… There’s no way…_

Before they even could think, Hajime and Kazuichi were at the door of the old building. They hesitated, not wanting to really face what was inside, if there even was a murder. Hajime opened the door to the old building, and Kazuichi could immediately smell the wonderful aroma of finely cooked food. It made Kazuichi sick.

Kazuichi and Hajime walked past the office, the bathrooms, the dining room, the fire door until they reached the kitchen. The smell was getting more and more intense as they kept on, almost souring as they got to the end. It wasn’t food anymore, Kazuichi gathered. It was something else. The cause of the smell throughout the building was from the door that was kicked in. 

Hajime and Kazuichi looked in at the same time, bracing themselves for whatever they had to see. No matter how much they tried, nothing could prepare for what they were about to see.

**TRIGGER WARNING: Gore, graphic burns, blood, disfigurement, etc. A long horizontal line signifies the end of a trigger warning. A “TW: [insert words]” will be used to signify another trigger warning start.**

  
  


Teruteru was slouched against the long ovens in the kitchen. His face was burnt beyond recognition, mangled with skin falling off in layers. He had literally melted, his features running together with his hair stuck to his forehead. He was drenched in liquid, bleeding from his hands. The odor was indescribably horrific; it was a mix between the wondrous foods Teruteru was cooking and the pungent smell of burnt flesh. Kazuichi couldn’t even hear himself scream.

* * *

A bell sound played from the monitor above where Teruteru’s body was, then Monokuma appeared on the screen. “A body has been discovered! Now then, after a certain amount of time, a class trial will begin! Upupupu!” After that announcement finished, Monokuma waddled his way around the kicked in door and up onto the countertop to be eye level with Kazuichi and Hajime. 

“Class… trial?” Hajime asked, dumbfounded. Kazuichi was frozen in shock.

“You idiot, I’ve explained that to you before! Since the rest of my lovely students are a bunch of halfwits too, I’ll wait until their despair filled hearts come running in here to see the action! Upupupu!” Monokuma exclaimed cheerily, sitting down on the edge of the countertop, his stubby legs almost kicking Teruteru’s corpse. 

Kazuichi tried to focus on breathing through his mouth so he didn’t have to smell the corpse in front of him while his other classmates came into the room. Kazuichi could hear various screams as the other students gathered in the small kitchen, but it was all white noise to him. His classmate was slouched, dead in front of him. Kazuichi should barely see Teruteru’s eyes through his melting skin and wet hair, but the glint of life was gone. He was alive, animated the day before while talking about cooking for the party, but now… he was gone. _Death is terrifying… and to think… someone here…_

“Since you are all here now, I’ll give you a brief summary of the class trial. Jeez, I almost forgot how it works, you’re all such slowpokes! Anyway, the class trial is where all the innocent students try to figure out who the blackened is. If you guess the wrong killer, everyone besides the blackened gets punished. If you guess right, then only the blackened is punished!” Monokuma stood up from the counter, striking a pose and winking. “What’s the punishment you ask? Well, execution, of course! But you all knew that already… Man, I hate it when my students don’t listen to me…” Monokuma said while looking down.

Monomi waddled in front of Monokuma suddenly, trying to jump up onto the counter with him, but failing. _When did she even get here…_

“No! You can’t make them do that… there’s no way…” She said, choking back tears. Monokuma got very annoyed and reeled back his fist, punching Monomi square in the jaw. “Ow, I really can’t take your corkscrew sucker punch!” 

“Grr, don’t you know? Someone is a murderer in this room! Of course there’s a way!” Monokuma dusted his paw off. “Anyway, what you heard to get here was the body discovery announcement. For the sake of clarity, the body discovery announcement plays when three people besides the blackened discover the body. You will get a certain amount of time before the class trial to investigate, so good luck! Upupupu!” Monokuma put his paws on his hips and laughed heartily. “Oh yeah! To help with the investigation, I have this for you all!” He went behind his back and pulled out 12 mini tablets, no bigger than the rest of the student’s E-handbook’s. Monokuma tossed them onto Monomi, who promptly started handing them out to every student. 

Kazuichi looked at his new, weird tablet and started to scroll. It had a picture of Teruteru with the word “DEAD” slapped over it. Beside that, it listed his height, weight, and other things. Below, it listed Teruteru’s cause of death, which was drowning. After that, it listed his external injuries, which were his various burns on his body. It send a chill down Kazuichi’s spine.

“It’s the Monokuma File!” Monokuma announced, which caused a vibration in Kazuichi’s pocket. By the confusion on the other’s faces, it looks like they got the same buzz. “Ah, I see you’ve noticed! I updated your E-handbooks to automatically log any relevant evidence regarding the trial! You may look at them during the trial to collect your thoughts. You all should be so thankful for such a kind and wonderful headmaster!” Monokuma said, blushing at his own compliment. Kazuichi looked down at his own E-handbook to read **New Truth Bullet: Monokuma File #1.**

“You are not a kind headmaster! You are evil, so evil for this!” Monomi interjected. Monokuma growled at her as he started running towards her, chasing her out of the crime scene. 

“Teruteru… he didn’t deserve this…” Mahiru said, breaking the silence. She had tears in her eyes, along with the majority of the rest of the class. Kazuichi was surprised that Byakuya too had tears in his eyes. 

“Well, there is no time to lose… We have to investigate, right?” Chiaki said while shockingly calm. 

“How could we? He… just died! There’s no way I could do anything like that, not right now!” Sonia said, her royal facade breaking. There were murmurs of agreements, mostly from Mahiru. _Poor Miss Sonia, I don’t want to make things any worse right now..._

“It’s what he would have wanted… I think… Not to die in vain, y’know? He wouldn’t want the rest of us to die.” Chiaki replied. 

“B-but th-there’s no way someone here c-could actually be the killer, r-right?” Mikan stuttered through her tears.

“You probably did it, Mikan. Hope so, so I wouldn’t have to see your ugly crying face anymore!” Mikan screamed out her usual apology quickly after.

“Hiyoko, you can’t just start blaming people without evidence, you know!” Mahiru interjected as Hiyoko quieted down. A silence befell the crowd once again. 

“If no one else wants to, I suppose I have to be the one to start investigating. I don’t want to accuse my friends, but I don’t have a choice…” Nagito said as he stepped forward into the crowd. 

“I am going to investigate too, after all I was here when the body discovery announcement played.” Hajime said after Nagito. Something stirred inside of Kazuichi. _Maybe I will regain my reputation…_

“I-I’ll do it too! After all, Hajime and I are bros, and we were both here for the body discovery announcement…” The crowd looked suspiciously at Kazuichi, but at least Nagito and Hajime looked appreciative of his courage. _Two’s better than none…_

“I-I-I c-c-could do an a-autopsy report with my m-medical knowledge!” Mikan said, clenching her eyes shut as if she didn’t want to believe what she was saying. 

“I am sorry you all… I have failed you as a leader, but we must push through… Everyone else should look through the rest of this building for clues, we do not know what we may find… We need to give the four staying in here space to investigate. I will stand guard outside the kitchen so the…” Byakuya suddenly hesitated. “The killer can not interfere with evidence… Let’s go, there is no time to waste.” Byakuya said, walking out of the kitchen. It was strange that Byakuya had waited so long to speak, it seemed like he would be the first one to speak up. _I guess he was shocked like the rest of us,_ Kazuichi thought.

The others left the kitchen, leaving just Nagito, Hajime, Mikan and Kazuichi alone with the corpse. Nagito immediately started silently investigating and Mikan was closely observing the body itself. Hajime and Kazuichi just looked at each other, not really knowing where to start. Kazuichi began to wonder about the Monokuma file before realizing he didn’t know where to start with an investigation in the first place.

“Since we’re both kinda new at this, do you wanna investigate together?” Kazuichi said as a shot in the dark. _Maybe his smarts will rub off on me so I can impress Miss Sonia!_

“Yeah sure, I was just thinking about what Monokuma said about the body discovery announcement… Three people besides the blackened cause it to go off…” Kazuichi’s E-handbook buzzed. **New Truth Bullet: Monokuma’s Account.** _I still need to get used to this weird thing…_

“I see, I was just thinkin’ about that Monokuma file we got… They messed him up real bad...” Kazuichi trailed off.

“Oh yeah, we should probably investigate his body first. Y’know, before Mikan’s autopsy report so we can look at it ourselves.” Hajime said, finally taking a step closer to Teruteru’s corpse. Kazuichi didn’t want to follow, but he stepped closer as well, kneeling down to get a good look. He almost gagged at the smell again. _I did sign up for this…_

Trying to ignore his sudden nausea, Kazuichi decided to inspect Teruteru’s clothes. He was wearing his normal chef’s clothes, but they were soaked from the neck down. It was hard to tell if his red apron was wet because of the color, so Kazuichi reached out and touched the middle of it.

“It’s only a little damp here…” Kazuichi said to himself, garnering Hajime’s attention. 

“What do you mean?” Hajime questioned.

“I mean like, the white part looks drenched, y’know? And his hair’s all wet… it’s weird.” Kazuichi concluded. Hajime hummed in response. **New Truth Bullet: Wet Clothes.**

Kazuichi couldn’t ignore Teruteru’s injuries any longer. With bated breath, Kazuichi started examining Teruteru’s body more in depth. 

**TW: Graphic depictions of burns, mention of blood, gore. There will be truth bullets within the section. There will be a virtual, non graphic E-handbook for readers at the end of the chapter. Long line represents the end of the trigger warning.**

Teruteru very obviously had severe burns on his face. _It looks like his skin melted.. Can skin even do that?_ It revolted Kazuichi, but he just tried to zone out and push through. _I need to! For Miss Sonia!_

Kazuichi tentatively touched Teruteru’s still wet hair. Kazuichi was unable to ignore the smell even when breathing through his mouth. Hajime was having the same issue as he was a shade paler than usual. Kazuichi rubbed his wet fingers together a bit, feeling something familiar. 

“You feel it too, right? Kinda slimy… oily almost. I don’t think it is just water.” Hajime said to Kazuichi. Kazuichi nodded in response, reaching to lightly touch Teruteru’s face. Upon closer inspection, he could see the skin was thinner in some places, turning a more pink hue from the blood underneath. Kazuici made sure to go for a less pink part, but instead for a thicker, yellow tinted part.

What Kazuichi touched didn’t feel like normal skin; it was more gelatin like. He instantly pulled his hand back and wiped it on his jumpsuit, regretting his decision. “Maybe it’s like that ‘cuz all that skin is dead…” Hajime said to Kazuichi. Kazuichi shuddered, his nausea becoming ever more prominent. **New Truth Bullet: Teruteru’s head.**

“There must not have been any other injuries to his head then.” Hajime declared, walking over to pick up one of Teruteru’s hands. “His hands are another story, look.” Hajime said as he showed Kazuichi. It was absolutely mangled; Kazuichi could see from a distance that blood was oozing out of the wound of Teruteru’s palm. His fingers were swollen with the same yellow tint as his forehead. It looked like Hajime was being very delicate , but skin was sliding off Teruteru’s hand from the gravity of being held up. 

“Put that down before it gets even more messed up!” Kazuichi said as Hajime dropped it.

“Sorry, I just noticed that the inside of his hands seemed a lot worse than the outside of them…” Hajime said, lost in thought. **New Truth Bullet: Teruteru’s hands.**

* * *

“Hey, are you guys done with the body? I haven’t looked at it yet…” Nagito said, breaking Hajime and Kazuichi out of thought. Mikan jumped from her examination as well, muttering sorry to herself. Kazuichi tried to telepathically tell Hajime “ _I would rather be investigating anything else right now_.”

“Yeah, we were just going to start investigating the rest of the room.” Hajime said. _Looks like he got my message... maybe I am a secret superhero…_

“Thanks. I’m sure you will find some… interesting evidence you two.” Nagito lowered his voice. “Especially you, Kazuichi.” 

“The hell’s that supposed to mean?!” Kazuichi asked, but to no response. Nagito walked past Kazuichi, lightly bumping into Kazuichi’s shoulder. _What’s that guy’s deal?_

“Hey, did you hear that sound as Nagito was walking?” Hajime asked Kazuichi.

“Nah, what was it?”

“His steps sounded… wet.” Kazuichi looked at the floor and saw he was standing in a mystery liquid. He was also now aware that his socks were slightly wet. _Gross._

“Ew, what is this stuff?” Kazuichi said as he frantically tried to escape the liquid, but the whole kitchen floor was covered with it. Hajime bent down and sniffed the floor at Kazuichi’s feet.

“Hey hey hey what are you doing?”Kazuichi said as he took a step back from Hajime. 

“Trying to tell what this is… It smells really good…” Hajime took a pause before standing up. “Didn’t Teruteru say he was going to make soup for the party?” Kazuichi had to think for a second.

“Uh, yeah he was. He was really excited about it too, poor guy…” Kazuichi said. **New Truth Bullet: Soup on the Floor.**

While Kazuichi was looking at the ground, his eyes drifted to the door on the floor. He walked over and crouched down, noticing the hinges of the door were still attached to the upright frame. “This door was definitely broken,” Kazuichi picked up a splayed wood chip. “It wasn’t unscrewed or anything.”

“Wanna try to lift it up?” Hajime asked Kazuichi. Kazuichi nodded, and proceeded to lift up the heavy door. 

“Ew, it’s wet! Hajime, let’s put it down, I-I don’t want it to slip.” Kazuich whined as they got halfway to lifting it fully upright. “You felt it was wet too, right?” Kazuichi asked.

“Yeah, that’s weird, isn’t it?” Hajime asked. Kazuichi couldn’t figure out what he meant by that. **New Truth Bullet: Kitchen Door.**

“Hey, what’s that on the door? In the middle of it?” Hajime asked, pointing towards the ground. Kazuichi squinted to focus his eyes, but there was a faint shoe print on the metal door. 

“Is that a shoe print? Maybe someone knocked it down?” Kazuichi questioned. **New Truth Bullet: Mark on Door.**

“Let’s check the other side of the kitchen,” Hajime said as he walked over the stoves. “Looks like this might have been the soup he was cooking for the party.” Hajime said as he touched the pot. “It’s cold now though, there’s still some soup left in it, but only about half the pot.” **New Truth Bullet: Soup Pot.**

Kazuichi was walking towards the pot, successfully stubbing his toe on the way over. “What the hell?!” Kazuichi said as he bent down to grab his foot, but stopped right before his head was about to hit something. He focused his eyes and realized he stubbed his toe on a stool positioned in front of the oven.

“What the hell is this doin’ here? I nearly tripped!” Kazuichi grumbled. 

“I mean, the pot is pretty deep. Teruteru isn’t tall, so he probably used that stool to see above it.” Hajime said, also noticing the stool. 

“Okay, but why is there a second one?” Kazuichi said, glancing at the slightly smaller stool next to the one Kazuichi bumped into. The bigger one was right in front of the pot, while the smaller was slightly off to the side. Hajime shrugged in response. **New Truth Bullet: Stools in front of Oven.**

“I don’t know, but whoever the killer is left a lot of stuff on the floor.” Hajime said as he bent down and picked up a pair of black gloves. They looked bulky, but at the same time too small for someone to actually fit into. Kazuichi motioned for Hajime to pass over one of them so he could inspect it more.

“Ah yeah, these are prolly waterproof heat proof gloves. I’ve had to work on some weird jobs, hehe.” Kazuichi inspected the gloves a little closer. “They don’t look that high quality though, they have plastic on them which is bad for heat and water.” Kazuichi finished, handing the glove back to hajime to put it back where they found it. **New Truth Bullet: Gloves in the Kitchen.**

“Would you find these kinds of gloves in a kitchen though?” Hajime asked.

“Nah, you’d need to get these kind at a hardware store or somethin’.” Kazuichi said casually. 

“Maybe I’ll-” Hajime started, but was rudely interrupted.

“Hey Hajime! I found something over here!” Nagito called out, motioning to the spot on the counter above Teruteru’s body. Hajime walked over while Kazuichi kept looking around the other side of the kitchen for clues, but couldn’t find anything useful. Hajime walked back over to Kazuichi, looking a lot more nervous than before. 

“Hey, Nagito found something and I wanted to ask if you knew anything about it.” Hajime said, holding his hand up to Kazuichi.

He was pinching a few medium length, hot pink hairs in his hand. _What? That has to be my hair, but I wasn’t anywhere near the crime scene… and I didn’t do it!_

“I-I promise I didn’t do it! It looks like mine, but it can’t be because I wasn’t anywhere near the crime scene!” Kazuichi said, panicking a bit. Hajime just looked annoyed. 

“I didn’t say you did it, just wanted to show you this too…” Hajime said as he put the hair back where he found it. **New Truth Bullet: Hot Pink Hair**.

Kazuichi suddenly remembered breakfast earlier that morning. “Hey, I felt a prick on the back of my head at breakfast… I looked behind me and there were Gundham, Nagito, and Sonia there. I didn’t think much of it, but the hair…” Kazuichi said, actually managing to defend himself for once. **New Truth Bullet: Kazuichi’s Account.**

“C’mon Kazuichi, I think we’ve gathered all we can here. How about you check out the rest of the building and talk to some people, and I’ll look around the island for those gloves? That sound good?” Kazuichi felt anxious that Hajime suspected him. _That must be why he wants us to split up, right?_

“Yeah, as long as we can report back to each other before the trial.” Kazuichi said to Hajime. 

“Sure dude, we still gotta get that autopsy report from Mikan.” Hajime turned to face Mikan. “Hey Mikan, do you think you’ll have that autopsy report done by the time we’ll get back?” Hajime asked, making her jump a bit.

“Y-yes, I will have it done as soon as I can!” Mikan said before Hajime and Kazuichi walked out the door. _Well, Byakuya is right here, might as well talk to him first._

“Hey Byakuya, where were you at last night?” Kazuichi asked.

“I was right here in this old building. I can not believe that I could not prevent it when I was in the same building…” Byakuya looked sad for a moment. “Sonia was with me too, we heard a loud thud and went to check the office first, then we checked the kitchen and found him like this…” He stopped for a minute. 

“Miss Sonia was with you? W-What was that like?!” Kazuichi blurted out, unable to control himself. Byakuya scoffed. 

“If it is for investigation purposes, she is quite… nice. She had the idea for the party, after all.” Kazuichi giggled to himself, then remembered he was supposed to be investigating.

“Anything unusual happen? See anyone come in?”

“Sonia and I were in the dining hall for most of the night, as we had saved it to be the last thing we cleaned. Otherwise, one of us was in the storage room or office, so we had to have heard someone come in…” **New Truth Bullet: Byakuya’s Account.**

“Thanks for asking- I mean answering! Haha!” Kazuichi laughed nervously as he walked away. 

Kazuichi peered into the hall, stepping out and deciding to try to talk to Sonia first. “Miss Sonia! I want to ask you some questions!” She was investigating the dining room door, dusting it half mindedly. 

“There are plenty of others to talk to. I am busy.” Sonia said in a monotone voice. _I don’t have the time to try again._ Instead, he decided to think about who else would be good to talk to. _Well, Fuyuhiko wanted the soup in the first place, so might as well try._ Fuyuhiko was across the way from Kazuichi, inspecting the bolted windows.

“Hey Fuyuhiko, is there any reason you wanted soup for the party?” Kazuichi asked.

“Are you fuckin’ stupid?! We literally shared his soup with each other. It tasted good, so I wanted it. That’s it!” Fuyuhiko said defensively. 

“Woah hey hey hey hey I am not tryin’ to start anything haha.” Kazuichi once again, laughed nervously.

“Don’t treat me like a fuckin’ kid! I just wanted soup!” Fuyuhiko said, getting angier. **New Truth Bullet: Fuyuhiko’s Account.**

“Ahaha, okay, I’ll just leave you alone now..” Kazuichi said quietly as he walked away. Kazuichi walked around the hallway, talking to everyone he could and not really getting anything useful from them. Kazuichi decided to check the office, where he found Ibuki standing alone. 

“Hey Ibuki, anything weird happen to you last night?” Kazuichi asked, not expecting anything useful.

“Ooh! Ibuki heard some weird things! Sounded like a dark, solemn, spooky sound!” She said excitedly. 

“What sounds? What was it?!” Kazuichi asked, finally hearing something interesting. 

“It was… hmm.. A person walking on the boardwalk thing… and then.. A knock on a doooooooor… and thennnnn two people talking… aaaaaaand two people walking on the boardwalk! Then a while later, just one person was walking back. It was weird! My ears are usually supreme, but it seemed pretty far away to me!” Ibuki finished, motioning out the entire spectacle with her hands. **New Truth Bullet: Ibuki’s account.**

“Hehe, thanks Ibuki.” Kazuichi said as he left the office, heading towards the storage room to investigate. 

He opened the door to find a hamster at his foot and looked down to see three others scurrying around the floor. _Just who I wanted to see… not._ “Hey Gundham, you got anything interesting?” Kazuichi asked, annoyed. 

“Are you referring to the several artifacts I have collected from my journeys to the fiery pits of hell? A mere mortal such as you would not be able to fathom such things!” Gundham said from his chest, his hamsters running to his shoulders. Kazuichi groaned and rolled his eyes. 

“No, I mean about the investigation. Anything relating to the murder, you think?” 

“Hmph, well, Mirage GoldenHawk Jump-P has found a rather intriguing cloth stuffed in the bottom shelf.” Gundham said as his gaze turned to a shelf. There was a plastic tarp stuffed lazily into a cubby. 

“Dude, cloths aren’t plastic. This is a tarp.” Kazuichi said as he began to investigate. “Oh and, thanks I guess.” Kazuichi said, trying to be polite. _Man, this guy’s annoying, but there’s more important shit to do._

Kazuichi started to unfold the tarp, a liquid dripping out of the center. It smelled familiar, but a lot more pleasant than the rest of the room. _Ugh, it’s wet. Oh! Maybe It was used in the kitchen…_ Kazuichi had unfolded the tarp all the way, ignoring if he got Gundham wet. 

“Why, I wonder, is that top of that ‘tarp’ warped? Maybe it was frozen by my evil presence!” Gundham said as he laughed. _Was that his way of trying to help? It’s really shit…_

“No, plastic gets wavy like that from heat… maybe somethin’ hot touched it.” Kazuichi said in response. He folded the tarp back up and stuffed it in the same cubby. **New Truth Bullet: Warped Tarp.**

_I should go see if Hajime is back…_ Kazuichi thought as he left the storage room to head back to the kitchen. Luckily, Hajime was waiting there for him, a pair of gloves in his hands. 

“Yo Hajime, what did you find?” 

“I found these gloves in the supermarket. You were right, they were waterproof and heatproof, but the price is pretty cheap. What was weird was that it looked like there was only one size in the store, but the ones in the kitchen were definitely smaller…” Hajime reported to Kazuichi. **New Truth Bullet: Supermarket Gloves.** “What’d you get?”

Kazuichi showed Hajime his E-handbook full of the accounts and filled Hajime in on the gaps. He left out the part where Sonia flat out ignored him. “Well, ready for the autopsy report?” Kazuichi asked after his speech, mouth a bit dry. Hajime replied yes and went back into the kitchen, where Nagito and Mikan were. They approached Mikan together.

“Anything to report, Mikan?” asked Hajime. 

“W-w-well, b-based on my medical knowledge, h-he definitely died of d-drowning l-like the Monokuma report said… U-uhm.. The blood seemed pretty old s-so I assume the time of death w-was a f-few hours ago, b-but I can’t pinpoint an exact t-time. U-Uhm.. He has th-third degree burns on his face and hands, with the hands being worse th-than his face… There are various other b-burns on his body f-from his wet clothes. I-I also found a b-blue piece of plastic a-attached to s-some of his skin. I-I-I’m sorry if this doesn’t help!” Mikan said, looking at the both of them with tears in her eyes. **New Truth Bullet: Mikan’s Autopsy Report.**

“Thank you Mikan, It is very helpf-” Hajime was in the middle of thanking her, when he was interrupted by the sound of a monitor turning on and a bell ringing. 

“Alrighty guys, it’s finally time for the long awaited class trial! Please head to Monokuma rock on the central isle! Upupupu, see you soon!” Monokuma said from the screen.

Kazuichi’s anxiety only grew as he and the rest of his classmates started to walk out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **OK HERE IS THE VIRTUAL E-HANDBOOK FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT!!!!! I'd recommend skimming thru it before the trial, i know I will!! the presentation also had a lil sketch i made of the crime scene (im no artist tho LOL)**  
>  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lQ5nRpNPZr1XbhJi6j9b6JyLF8RmpCRNGjy9SY0_5Dk/edit?usp=sharing
> 
> really annoys me how i cant hyperlink stuff on ao3..... n e ways...
> 
> sorry this took long finals kicked my ass... also i literlly hurt myself writing this... dont write for 7 hours straight kids... (dw im in a finger splint)
> 
> idk if ill split the trial into two chapters or keep it as one... do yall have a preference? itll take me longer if it's one chapter so idk
> 
> Who do YOUU guys think the killer is?? COMMENT BELOW!!! and thank u all who have commented, i read all of em!!!!


	7. Trial One Begins!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kazuichi and the rest of the students face their first class trial together to find out who murdered Teruteru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i want to first apologize for not updating.... i have had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life and i finished this chapter when i had free time lol,,, i really hope the next chapter wont take two weeks two update but ah idk...
> 
> please please follow my twitter and my TUMBLR please i need more soudam asks or just like any ship ask really i want them.,,,,
> 
> pls give me feedback about what you liked / didnt like about the chapter!! this is my first time writing a trial and i want to know what you guys think!! thx and enjoy

The silent walk to Monokuma rock was almost unbearable for Kazuichi. Not only did he feel sick knowing someone had murdered, but he also had that stupid bridge to cross. He just hoped he could keep it together in front of his peers and in front of Sonia. Kazuichi had to try to psyche himself up for the trial, thinking “ _This will finally be my chance to impress Miss Sonia!”_

The bridge to the central isle was quickly approaching. Kazuichi took a deep breath in and tried to focus on the horizon while his hand slid across the railing. He tried to look at the horizon, but his eyes drifted to the back of Sonia’s head. He was watching her long blonde hair swish while she walked. It was a good distraction from the nagging feeling in his stomach. Still, he tried to press on. 

About halfway across the incredibly long bridge, Kazuichi had to slow his pace in case his body decided to dump his insides off the side of the bridge. He was still trying to focus on Sonia, but it was getting increasingly difficult when he could see Gundham in his peripheral vision. Kazuichi continued his deep breathing while still trying to ignore any thoughts in his head that could trigger his gag reflex. He could feel himself sweat. 

Once off the bridge he could finally relax himself a bit, his nausea was back to its normal nervous state. He could finally look at the others around him, noticing Hajime was now walking next to Sonia. _Wait, wasn’t Gundham next to Sonia? I wanted to give him an evil stare for standing next to Miss Sonia, but where-_ Kazuichi was thinking when he turned his head and saw Gundham walking next to him. _Are you kidding me? He’s taunting me! He tried to kill me, failed, then walked beside me to say he could do it again! Right before whatever this trial is gonna be!_ Kazuichi glared at Gundham even though he didn’t seem to notice. 

Monokuma rock loomed over Kazuichi and his classmates. Kazuichi’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness as he watched his slower classmates catch up to the rest of the group. Kazuichi counted the heads of his classmates, noticing there were two people missing from their normal 16. _Oh. Teruteru is… he wouldn’t be able to come._

“Perhaps we should call Monokuma? It seems Fuyuhiko is late in joining us.” Sonia said, making everyone’s heads turn to her. 

“Upupupu! You called for me?” Monokuma said, suddenly appearing from behind Monokuma walk and blushing once he heard his name. 

“Shut up. We just want to know where Fuyuhiko is.” Byakuya said bluntly.

“I’m right fuckin’ here!” Fuyuhiko shouted, casually strolling to stand with the rest of the group. 

“Aw darn, I thought I was gonna get to use my second form to force Fuyuhiko to come!” Monokuma said while looking down at the ground sadly. 

“You can’t do that!” Monomi said as she waddled in from the darkness. "He would surely die, and that's against the rules!" 

"Gahhh whatever. I'll be waiting for you all in the trial roooooooom!" Monokuma said as he ran behind Monokuma Rock once again.

"I don't see any trial room around here-" Kazuichi said, but was cut off by a giant escalator popping out of the mountain before them. "HOLY SHIIIIIT!" Kazuichi screamed. 

"That was not very nice of him…. I'll give him the 1-2 combo for scaring you all like that!" Monomi said as she ran behind Monokuma rock, tripping on the way over.

"W-w-well now what are we supposed to do?" Mikan asked the group, pulling the students' eyes away from the escalator. 

"Isn't it obvious?" Byakuya asked condescendingly. He paused, waiting for someone to speak up. He sighed before continuing. "We have to go in there. There's no use defying Monokuma if we die. We must find the truth." Byakuya finished, seemingly back to his usual self.

One by one, each of the students went up the escalator and into the elevator. The elevator ride down was filled with empty small talk, trying to distract from the worry that surrounded them. Kazuichi tried to focus on his feet buzzing against the moving floor. _Jeez, this seems like it's taking forever… I wonder if it'll ever end…_

Suddenly, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. They all stepped into a giant room with stands in a circle. There was a stand that had Teruteru's picture crossed out on it. A giant screen was mounted on the other side of the room, currently displaying a beach scene. The floor was checkered and there was a giant throne where Monokuma was sitting. Next to him, Monomi hung from a rope tied around her waist. 

"Hello hello! Welcome to the trial room!! I decorated it for you all, so you better like it!!" Monokuma said with a roar. "Please take your seats and get ready for the class trial!" There were quiet murmurs of protest as they stood on their own spots. Kazuochi ran his hand against the polished wood. It felt nice.

"Alright! Does anyone have any questions before the class trial begins?" Monokuma asked. 

"Why do we have to do this? We all know it was you who killed him…" Nagito said.

"Upupupu! I would never hurt one of my precious students… unprovoked! It was one of you all who betrayed your friend! Now he is dead!!!" Monokuma replied with a laugh. 

"Since there will be no other worthless questions, I will give a basic explanation of the class trial! All of the spotless students must figure out ‘whodunit!’ If the spotless students figure out who the blackened is, then only they will get punished. But if you pick the wrong one… I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened! Upupupu!” Monokuma finished.

“Such a cruel rule!!” Monomi added. 

“Y-you’re telling us to start, but where do we even begin?” Mikan asked.

“Well, I’ll punch someone until they say they did it!” Akane yelled.

“Isn’t that torture?! The hall will be filled with screams!!!” Ibuki said with shock in her voice.

“No, that will not be necessary. In order to find the,” Byakuya hesitated. “...murderer, we must paint the entire picture of the crime.”

“What if they just confess? I can make ‘em do it!” Akane said scarily.

“We only have a limited amount of time, remember? We need to be focused.” Chiaki replied, which made Akane step down a bit. 

“Let’s discuss something at the scene of the crime then. What was the murder weapon?” Hajime asked, making eye contact with Kazuichi. _Oh fuck he wants me to answer okay uhm…_ Kazuichi was about to speak when Nagito cut in before him.

“The murder weapon… it was probably something found in the kitchen…” 

“What if they took a fryin’ pan and just WHACKED him?” Ibuki said.

“What about the fallen door? What if it fell on him?” Mahiru asked. 

“The pot of soup looks suspicious… what if they drowned him?” Kazuichi finally said.

“Kazuichi is right.” Hajime stated. Kazuichi breathed a sigh of relief. “According to the Monokuma file,” The giant screen opposite of Monokuma displayed the truth bullet Hajime mentioned. “ _Huh, I guess it is for displaying evidence. Cool."_ Kazuichi thought.

“It says right there the cause of death is drowning. There aren’t any external injuries other than being burned, so Teruteru must have been drowned in the soup pot!” Hajime finished.

“Why should we just believe Monokuma? He is the evil bastard who is trapping us here. Besides, what do those burns have to do with anything about drowning? Shut your whore mouth unless you have something actually useful to say.” Hiyoko said condescendingly at Hajime. 

“Ahem, I am offended at your lack of trust in me. All trials will, of course, be fair trials! As your headmaster, it is my duty to tell you the absolute truth when it comes to these trials. Besides, the only lies I tell are fun lies!” Monokuma interjected.

“It seems we have no choice but to believe this insufferable creature for the time being…” Gundham stated in reply to Monokuma. 

“Okay, but what do the burns have to do with anything? Drowning doesn’t cause burns.” Mahiru replied. There was a bit of silence as Kazuichi tried to concentrate on how the burns related to the soup pot being the murder weapon. 

“What if the soup in the pot was boilin’ when Teruteru drowned in it?” Kazuichi asked, deciding to think out loud. 

“The Monokuma file just says there were burns on his body. Doesn’t mean it is from something that hot. There could have been other things causing the burns.” Sonia said. Kazuichi faltered a bit.

“S-sorry Miss Sonia, I won’t do it again.” Kazuichi replied solemnly. 

“I disagree. The Monokuma file said there were burns all over his body. It would be difficult to minorly burn yourself all over your body, so having boiling water spilled on you makes sense with the amount of burns.” Byakuya finished. 

“Byakuya, I think you are just assuming the cause of the burns. We need something more concrete to prove that it was the boiling soup.” Sonia replied, using her demanding princess voice.

“Mikan, didn’t you make an autopsy report specifying the types of burns?” Hajime interjected. Mikan’s autopsy report lit up on the big screen. 

“Y-yes… there were third degree b-burns on his face and hands. Those types of burns are only caused by extreme heat, like coming into contact with something heated by fire for a long time… S-so boiling water causes third degree burns!” Mikan said with a squeak. 

“You better not be lying you nasty pig!” Hiyoko added as Mikan sputtered out her apologies. 

“There is nothing else I can think of that would cause those types of burns. Teruteru did say he was going to be cooking the soup all night, and to cook soup you do need to boil the broth, perhaps overnight. Not to mention the sides of the pot would be hot as well, creating even more burns.” Byakuya declared. 

“Byakuya, the ultimate affluent progeny, I knew you could do it! So smart, uncovering the murder weapon in the face of adversity…” Nagito said. _I was the one who pointed out the soup pot was the murder weapon..._

“So the soup was the murder weapon!! Dun dun dun!!!! I wonder if Teruteru had a tasty demise!” Ibuki said, oddly happy. _How can she joke at a time like this?_

“If the soup was the murder weapon… whoever wanted soup is the killer!” Akane said, flexing her muscles as if she was ready to hurt someone. 

“Didn’t Teruteru make the soup of his own accord?” Peko asked. 

“When we were planning the party, Sonia was the one to ask Teruteru to make the food.” Fuyuhiko said.

“He was the ultimate chef, so naturally I wanted him to make the food…” Sonia said, trailing off. “That does not mean I am the killer!”

“Didn’t Kazuichi ask Teruteru to make soup the day before? Maybe Teruteru did it again because Kazuichi asked in private!” Nekomaru said. 

“No, it was Fuyuhiko who wanted Teruteru to make soup for the party! Remember at breakfast, he said he wouldn’t come unless Teruteru made that soup I shared with him.” Kazuichi finished, panicking a bit. Fuyuhiko’s account lit up on the big screen for all to see. 

“Oh!! So Fuyuhiko is the killer? Your yakuza blood just couldn’t resist a killing?” Ibuki said. 

“I’m not the fuckin’ killer! Why would I kill him if he was doing a favor for me?!” Fuyuhiko yelled, but was seemingly ignored by the rest of the group.

“So Fuyuhiko was the one that did it… he knocked down that door, rushed in, and then drowned Teruteru. How truly terrible!” Sonia exclaimed. 

“Wait, how would he have been able to kick down the door?” Chiaki asked.

“What are you, stupid?” Kiyoko asked.

“No, doesn’t the footprint seem a little strange?” Chiaki asked again. The big screen lit up with a picture of the door. The footprint was in the middle of the door.

“My shoes don’t fuckin’ look like that!” Fuyuhiko said as he pointed to his own shoes, which weirdly looked like socks. Fuyuhiko's shoes definitely could not have made the footprint on the door.

“Wouldn’t it be possible to change his shoes prior to the murder?” Gundham asked the group. 

“Yes, that’s true, but that is not what I was talking about… The placement of the mark is weird if Fuyuhiko was the one to kick the door, don’t you think?” Chiaki asked, looking at Hajime. 

“We shouldn’t rule out the killer changing shoes, but it doesn’t make sense why it’s in the middle of the door, isn’t that right Kazuichi?” Hajime asked, looking directly at Kazuichi. _Fuck, shit, do I know? I mean, it is a little weird. I could probably kick that high, but Fuyuhiko is so much shorter… I don’t know about his strength, but it wouldn’t make sense to kick that high if he wanted to transfer momentum and power to the door._

“Oh! It’s because Fuyuhiko’s too short to kick that high!” Kazuichi said, putting his hands behind his head and smiling. Fuyuhiko’s face became very red.

“What did you just fucking say? I’ll kill you and all your little machines!” Fuyuhiko yelled.

“Gah! No dude, it just, wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense that you would kick your leg _that_ high to kick down a door. You probably wouldn't even be able to kick it down with your leg atthat angle.” Kazuichi said, successfully defending himself for once. There was suddenly a diagram of a faceless stick figure at Fuyuhiko’s height, with its leg too high to kick the door down.

“Kazuichi is right. You would have to be at least taller than Fuyuhiko to kick the door down for it to be effective.” Hajime added.

“It’s not really hard to be taller than him, though. For everyone except Hiyoko of course.” Kazuichi replied, regretting the last comment as soon as it came out of his mouth.

“You’re lucky you’re actually being useful for once during this class trial, because otherwise you’re completely fucking useless. No wonder Sonia hates you so much!” Hiyoko replied, jabbing at Kazuichi. Kazuichi looked at Sonia expectantly, but Sonia ignored him. 

“We are right back to where we were before! How will we know who did it now?” Sonia exclaimed, seemingly more distressed than a few minutes ago. 

“Maybe there isn’t even a killer and Monokuma is just lying to us… maybe we should give up…” Nagito said depressingly. 

“No, you imbecile, we must press on. In the name of my family, I swear I will get out of here alive.” Byakuya said, countering Nagito. “Besides, there is more evidence we must go over. On the topic of height, there were those two stools in front of the soup pot I think we should discuss.”

“Oh, I got it! There are two stools, so two of the shorties had to be standin’ on ‘em!” Akane said. 

“Didn’t we just prove that it wasn’t Hiyoko or Fuyuhiko?” Peko asked. 

“Why would someone need to be short to need a stool?” Chiaki asked. 

“What do you mean? I won’t ever need a stool, I can always reach the top shelf!” Nekomaru shouted. 

“I think she is right, if we look at the crime scene,” Hajime said as the big screen lit up, picturing the scene of the crime. “We can see that the soup pot is really tall. In order to drown Teruteru in it, someone would need to be much taller than him in order to force his head down into the water.” 

“Wait, so they dunked Teruteru into the water? Wouldn’t that mean their hands would be burned too?” Mahiru asked.

“Oh! So whoever has burns on their hands must be the killer, right? Show me your hands right now, or I’ll beat ya until you do!” Akane threatened. Kazuichi glanced at all the stands around him, but he didn’t see anyone with burned hands… until he saw Gundham.

“Hey! Gundham, why ya got those bandages, huh?” Kazuichi taunted.

“Are you accusing me of an unnecessary killing, Soda? I’ll have you know I wear these bandages to hide the marks hellish beasts have left me, for they would be unbearable to mortal eyes!” Gundham yelled and laughed. 

“No, the killer wouldn’t have burns on their hands. We found those heat proof and water-proof gloves at the scene of the crime, right Kazuichi?” Hajime said, facing Kazuichi and to take the focus off of Gundham. 

“Oh yeah, that’s right! Those gloves would have protected their hands from the boiling water.” Kazuichi said.

“What about the rest of their arms? W-wouldn’t their arms also be burned?” Mikan asked. 

“I don’t think that’s exactly what we should be focusing on right now…” Nagito replied, trailing off in a low tone at the end. 

“Try to think before you open your stupid ugly mouth next time, pig!” Hiyoko insulted. Mikan started tearing up.

“Nagito, what you said. Do you know something we don’t?” Byakuya asked. 

“Hajime, I showed it to you, right? The damning evidence at the scene of the crime?” Nagito asked expectantly.

“Damning evidence?! Why didn’t you share that from the start?” Mahiru replied angrily. 

“I agreed with Byakuya, we needed to paint the entire scene of the crime before coming to a conclusion… Now that we know how the killer did it, I think it’s time to show them all… come on Hajime…” Nagito replied. 

“While it is important to know what happened, it would have been useful from the start if we knew evidence that pointed to a culprit…” Byakuya said. Hajime was still thinking, his hand on his chin. _Please don’t say what I think you’re going to!_ Kazuichi thought to himself.

“Nagito, are you talking about the pink hair you found at the scene of the crime?” Kazuichi’s world slowed. He felt the eyes of all his classmates turn to him and then back to Nagito. The pit in his stomach deepened. 

“That’s exactly what I mean. How wonderful for an ultimate such as yourself to figure it out!” Nagito said, eerily happy. Now all eyes were on Kazuichi.

“Th-that’s not my hair guys! I swear!” Kazuichi blurted out in a panicked defense.

“You think we are stupid enough to fall for that? You’re a nasty, lying murderer, and not even a good one!” Hiyoko insulted.

“There is no one else with pink hair, so it has to be Kazuichi. Why else would there be pink hair at the scene if he was not the killer?” Mahiru asked. 

“What if someone was wearin’ a wig? Heh…” Kazuichi said, hitting himself mentally. _I know I’m only making it worse for myself, but I just can’t think of anything else! They all think I’m the killer!_

“You think this is a time for fuckin’ jokes? Just shut up and fuckin’ confess already so we can all get out of here!” Fuyuhiko stated angrily. 

“I don’t know! I just know I’m not the killer!” Kazuichi pleaded.

“Unless you have substantial evidence proving this statement, we will have no choice but to vote for you.” Gundham said, his voice in an uncharacteristically lower tone. 

“I believe him, I don’t think he did it.” Chiaki stated as a matter of fact.

“Chiaki, haven’t you been listening? His hair was at the crime!” Ibuki replied. 

“Just because it was there doesn’t mean he murdered Teruteru. I want to believe him.” Chiaki said.

“I believe Kazuichi too. Just calm down a little man, think about what you told me during the investigation.” Hajime stated calmly. _Okay man, just breathe. You know you aren't the killer. If you can’t prove this, everyone else will die! What did I say to Hajime… oh right!_

“Hajime, are you talking about breakfast this morning when I was flicked on the back of the head or somethin’?” Kazuichi tried. He really didn’t think his word would go against Nagito’s but that’s all he could really go for. 

“That’s right, you said it was like your hair was pulled a little? Then, you looked behind you and who was there?” Hajime prodded. Kazuichi hesitated before his response. 

“He could just be lying! Why should we believe him?” Mahiru interjected. “Look, he can’t even offer up a good response!” Kazuichi faltered even more. 

“I want to believe my friends before I suspect them. C’mon Kazuichi, you can do it.” Chiaki said to him in a warm tone. It made Kazuichi feel a lot better.

“Yeah, I looked behind me and I think I saw Gundham, Sonia, and,” Kazuichi’s brain connected the dots. He hesitated. “...Nagito was right behind me.”

“Nagito was the one who showed me the hair at the crime scene. Before that, I hadn’t even seen it.” Hajime added.

“Where was the hair found? I don’t remember hearing about it.” Peko asked.

“Nagito said he found it right above Teruteru’s body on the counter. Which is a bit strange, isn’t it Kazuichi?” Hajime said.

“Well, uh, yeah it was kinda weird. We were investigating Teruteru’s body really up close, so I feel like we should have seen it.” Kazuichi replied. 

“I was standing outside the door, so I know only Mikan, Hajime, Kazuichi, and Nagito were investigating the kitchen. It is plausible that the evidence was planted by Nagito.” Byakuya said.

“Wait, didn’t Chiaki just talk about believing in our friends?” Sonia asked. 

“I want to believe them, but we can not ignore any possibilities. We need to get out of this alive.” Chiaki stated as Sonia stepped back from the conversation.

“Nagito, did you plant the hair in the kitchen to frame Kazuichi?” Hajime asked, pressuring Nagito. Kazuichi could see that Nagito was becoming distressed. His already frizzy hair was puffing out even more, similar to a rat when it is scared. He was also sweating, clutching his own head.

“Nagito? Please say something!” Sonia pleaded.

“We’re all gonna think you’re the killer if you don’t.” Nekomaru added.

“I already do think you’re the killer!” Akane said.

Nagito looked worse and worse as more people taunted him. He started to groan, seemingly in pain. _Maybe this guy really regrets killing Teruteru now!_ Kazuichi thought. 

“Nagito, what are you-” Hajime started, but was cut off by maniacal laughter. 

“Kyahahhaha! I’m… so full of despair that you all figured it out! You’re right! I killed Teruteru with the soup he was making for the hope filled party! I hope you are all so filled with hope from figuring this out!” Nagito said, laughing again. The rest of the class was awestruck in fear and a bit of curiosity. 

“Why would you do this, Nagito?” Hajime asked, breaking the silence.

“I just wanted to become a stepping stone for you ultimates. Now I get to feel true despair, while you all get to feel true hope!” Nagito said with a deranged look in his eyes.

“This guy’s gone completely bonkers!” Ibuki shouted.

“Monokuma, I think we are ready for the vote now!” Mahiru yelled. 

“Hmm… I think it is time for an intermission in the class trial! Please, go to the bathroom and get some water now! Don’t want you all to tire yourselves out too much you can’t have a fair trial! Upupupupu!” Monokuma said as two doors opened up, each labeled either male or female. “Oh, and by the way, you can’t discuss during this time, or I’ll have to punish you!” Monokuma finished as the conversation came to a halt.

Kazuichi’s head was absolutely spinning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the reason this chap took longer is bc my computer started breaking lol my shift key does not work anymore and im preeeeetty sure the motherboard is melted.... it is working now but i am getting a new one in a few days,,, also schoolwork has been a lot!! calculus and physics are fun but they are so fast paced ;-;
> 
> PLEASE give me feedback on this chapter. like if the pacing was too slow or too fast, if there's too much unneeded dialogue, spelling mistakes, and if any characters are too ooc!!! this was a challenge to write, but I am happy with it. 
> 
> cant wait till more of these bitches die so i dont have to try to squeeze dialogue for everyone in trials
> 
> PLEASE kudos and COMMENT!!!! if you want me to start writing more just. comment. if i get a comment on a random day i will just start writing. but ya hope you enjoyed !! :]


	8. Trial One Ends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the intermission is over, Kazuichi needs to uncover the full truth about the murder of Teruteru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's gonna be an execution at the end of the chapter so!!! be warned!!!
> 
> also i promise i didnt abandon this, i have just had a lot going on in my life. my computer is still really broken and i had my beloved pet die, as well as school stress so!! yeah!!! this is also a long chapter and it was harder to plan out but i',m pretty happy with it.
> 
> IMPORTANT CHANGE: BYAKUYA'S ACCOUNT HAS BEEN UPDATED. HE AND SONIA CHECKED THE OFFICE FIRST, THEN THE KITCHEN.

“Ahem! The intermission is over, folks! I believe it is time to return back to the main show, but before you do, remember to save frequently!” Monomi said as all of the students returned back to their podiums. Everyone looked tired and worn out, since the body was found when most of the students were sleeping. 

“Fuck you mean, ‘intermission?’ We know who the killer is. It’s Nagito!” Fuyuhiko declared. 

“He did just admit it… but I am still suspicious.” Byakuya said. “There’s still some things left unclear from the scene.” 

“Aren’t these class trials about believin’ or something? I believe Nagito is the killer!” Akane said while holding her fist. 

“It is better to be safe than sorry… I think.” Chiaki replied through a yawn. 

“I think she’s right, after all, we’ll all die if we get this wrong.” Hajime stated.

“Ahem, if a worthless murderer such as myself may interject, I can just explain the whole thing to you all… perhaps it will fill you with hope that you are correct in your assumptions!” Nagito said, beaming. “I first snuck into the old building while Byakuya and Sonia were cleaning, then I kicked down the door down-” 

“No, that’s wrong!” Hajime yelled, turning all eyes on him. “Kazuichi, wasn’t there someone you talked to that would have seen Nagito if he kicked the door down first?” 

“Well, Byakuya told me that he and Sonia checked the office as soon as they heard a loud sound before finding the body… that sound could have been the door being kicked down. They totally would have seen Nagito pass by!” Kazuichi said with more confidence as he finished.

“If Kazuichi is right, then who kicked down the door? I believe there are no other exits from the old building.” Peko asked.

“Well, we closed the door when searching for what could have fallen in the office. Closing doors is a habit of mine, for if you leave a door open an assassin could come in and murder to in order to end the royal bloodline!” Sonia said with vigor. 

“M-miss Sonia, what kind of past do you have?” Kazuichi asked under his breath.

“We’re back to where we were! Nagito could still have snuck out!” Nekomaru yelled. 

“I think Hajime was referring to something else during the investigation… something at the scene, maybe.” Chiaki said while looking directly at Kazuichi.  _ At the scene? Hajime and I were together then.. What could it have been? _

“When Kazuichi and I lifted the door up, we saw the soup spilled on the floor was already underneath the door.” Hajime replied after Kazuichi stayed silent. 

“What’s so strange about that?” Gundham inquired. Kazuichi couldn’t even fault him; he didn’t know either.

“Aren’t kitchen doors like that flat? Without a handle or anything?” Chiaki asked, but it was less of a question and moreso to egg the conversation on. 

“The door was flat on the ground. That means the soup had to have already been spilled when the door was kicked down.” Hajime finished. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Hiyoko asked. 

“Teruteru struggled before he died, yes? Well, it is obvious that soup would have overflowed and spilled onto the floor. It does not make sense with our previous assumption that the killer knocked the door down in order to gain entry to the kitchen.” Byakuya clarified a little bit, annoyance in his voice. 

“We agreed Nagito kicked down the door, right? He could have just kicked down the door afterwards to skew with the time of the murder.” Sonia said. 

“Wait, but the door being kicked was that loud sound you heard, right? It’s just inconveniencing him at that point. Why bother kicking the door down when he could have waited until Byakuya and Sonia found the body?” Chiaki added, looking lost in thought. 

“H-he s-still did admit to murdering Teruteru though.” Mikan replied, saying what about half of the class was still thinking. Hiyoko didn’t even disagree with her. A cloak of silence fell upon the entire class. Kazuichi looked over at Hajime who had his eyes shut tight. 

“Why did we assume the person who kicked the door down was the murderer?” Hajime said as he opened his eyes. Even more confusion set in for Kazuichi. “We just disproved that the door was kicked down before the murder and it doesn’t make sense why the killer would kick down the door after.” 

“Maybe he is just dumb!” Mahiru added. 

“I think it is important to go through all possibilities, but that reasoning is shaky for disproving Nagito.” Sonia said.

“Then let’s stop talking about it. We don’t have the time to be going in circles debating whether Nagito is the killer or not. There are more things we have not looked at.” Byakuya replied.

“Ibuki can’t think of anything else!! Grrrr!” Ibuki said while growling like a dog in frustration. 

“If a worthless murderer like me can offer an opinion… I think Mikan’s autopsy report is… interesting” Nagito practically whispered. 

“Like we would listen to scum like you! Go die in a hole!” Hiyoko yelled.

“W-well, we haven’t discussed-” Mikan started. 

“No one asked you to speak, pig barf! Didn’t you learn the rule ‘don’t speak unless spoken to?!’” Hiyoko said snidely. Mikan started sputtering her apologies as always. 

“Hey, that’s rude! Mikan’s autopsy report is awesome. I read it myself!” Kazuichi said in a lame attempt to defend Mikan. 

“I was not aware you could read, very good!” Sonia replied. Kazuichi folded in on himself. 

“Kazuichi’s right, it is ‘awesome.’ She even mentioned a blue piece of plastic melted onto the skin of Teruteru.” Chiaki added. 

“Yeah! And it’s the same color of the tarp Gundham and I found in the storage room. That has to mean something, right?” Kazuichi asked, trying to save himself. 

“The... ‘tarp’ was rather large. Perhaps they used it to shield themselves from the scalding water.” Gundham said with a laugh. 

“Nagito used that to shield himself, okay, I get it!” Mahiru said.

“Quiet, you. I told you to stop blaming Nagito. Besides, he would not even need to use the tarp, marking yet another inconsistency.” Byakuya spat. Mahiru just stood with a shocked expression on her face.

“Stop usin’ big words and say what you mean!” Akane yelled.

“Well, wouldn’t his clothes already shield him? Look at them, he’s bundled up like it’s still winter, hehahe!” Nekomaru boomed. 

“Wouldn’t it have gotten on his sleeves and burned him?” Peko asks the group.

“Wasn’t there something else at the scene of the crime that we know would have prevented burns?” Chiaki said as she made eye contact with Hajime. Hajime looked deep in though for a few seconds before he opened his eyes again. 

“Those gloves at the scene of the crime… they match the waterproof and heat proof gloves I found at the convenience store. Anyone could have gotten those gloves, assuming this was premeditated.” Hajime finished.

“Of course it would be premeditated, you’d be a fuckin’ idiot to do a spontaneous murder!” Fuyuhiko yelled.

“Oh yeah, says the Yakuza who’s been threatening to kill us when we say something he doesn’t like!” Mahiru interjected. Fuyuhiko huffed to himself, deciding to stay quiet. 

“Well if Nagito had those gloves, why would he need a tarp? C’mon, it just doesn’t make sense… I think.” Chiaki asked.

“He would be covered with the gloves and his jacket, if he was smart enough to only put his hands in. No tarp would be needed.” Byakuya said, leaving most of the class confused. 

“He’s just a male, why wouldn’t he be stupid? He probably pulled his sleeves up to do it!” Mahiru stated. 

“That doesn't make sense, even to me.” Kazuichi replied. 

“Shut up, Mahiru didn’t ask for you to speak!” Hiyoko yelled, making Kazuichi crumple. He really did feel like a plastic bag, floating through the wind. 

“No, he’s right. It doesn’t make sense and we keep seeing inconsistencies between the crime scene and Nagito’s story. Nagito probably isn’t the killer. We should stop blamin-” Hajime was cut off. 

“Nagito was the one who kicked down the door, and if you won’t take his word for it, I guess I just have to show you! He has to be the killer.” Nekomaru yelled, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Nagito! Show us your feet!” 

“You pervert, what do you want to see his feet for?” Hiyoko sneered.

“His shoes should match up to the door print! Show them, Nagito!” Nekomaru said, pointing to Nagito’s shoes.

“Oh… well, I guess you caught me, how unlucky!” Nagito said as he held up his shoe for all to see. It did match the footprint on the door, but Kazuichi couldn’t stop thinking about what Hajime said a few seconds ago. They really should stop focusing on Nagito if they want to get down to the bottom of everything. 

“Well, Nagito was always adamant about being helpful to others… what if the killer didn’t work alone?” Kazuichi said as a shot in the dark.

“Wh-what happens if there’s an accomplice? D-do we vote for both?!” Mikan asked.

“If I may interrupt, the rules of an accomplice are that only the person who actually murdered someone is the blacked! So, only the actual murderer has a chance of escape and the spotless have to vote for the actual murderer!” Monokuma said cheerily. 

“Ibuki doesn’t think there is an accomplice! Or, wait, if Kazuichi is the killer, then him bringing up the accomplice to make us think there isn’t an accomplice is his master plan!” Ibuki gasped to herself. “Ah well, Ibuki doesn’t think that happened. Ibuki thinks there is no accomplice!” The rest of the class just kind of stared at her.

“Ibuki, weren’t you the one to hear two people talking at night?” Hajime asked. 

“Oh yeah! Ibuki was up late last night when she heard some footsteps. Ibuki thinks she heard someone knock on another person's door, and then two pairs of footsteps leave. Eventually there was just one pair of footsteps to return… it distracted Ibuki from thinking of a new song to write!” Ibuki said.

“Why didn’t you say that earlier?!” Fuyuhiko said angrily. Ibuki just gave him a shrug in reply. 

“Very good, Ibuki! Much to be expected from the ultimate musician! I can’t believe I got caught… It’s really true, I am just an accomplice. I just wanted to be a stepping stone for hope!” Komaeda replied with an evil laugh. 

“You better tell us who it is, or I’ll beat the hell out of ya until you do!” Akane yelled.

“Please! Punish me, hurt me! A lowlife like me deserves it for what I’ve done to you…” Nagito said, clutching his own arms. 

Suddenly, the trial room was filled with screams and yells, all trying to get Nagito to talk. Fuyuhiko was holding Akane back from fighting Nagito, Hajime was flipping through his handbook, Mahiru was berating Nagito for agreeing to a murder. Hiyoko was backing up Mahiru by spouting the worst insults Kazuichi had heard since middle school. Fuyuhiko was bright red, obviously holding himself back and Peko was grabbing at her sword from within her bag. It was all too loud for Kazuichi. 

“Everyone!” Sonia shouted, breaking the commotion and using her princess voice to grab everyone’s attention. “This is getting us nowhere! We don’t have time to yell at Nagito like this! After all, he could be lying even right now! We can’t count on him to tell us the killer.” Sonia finished with a huff. Mahiru looked down at her feet and Akane finally settled down as well. 

“W-we don’t have anything else, do we? We have to believe in Nagito, right?” Mikan asked tentatively. There was a break of silence, most students just staring at Nagito. Monokuma started to yawn in boredom. 

“Mikan, you’re wrong. I think we have narrowed it down to two suspects.” Hajime stated. Kazuichi couldn’t keep up with him, really making him debate Hajime’s mysterious ultimate. Hajime stared at Kazuichi, making Kazuichi think Hajime was trying to tell him something. 

Kazuichi pulled out his handbook and started flipping through his evidence. They already combed through all of the evidence at the scene of the crime, so it couldn’t be any of those. He started reading through everyone’s accounts again to see if any of those made sense. He decided to read Monokuma’s account again, which stated that the body discovery announcement only played when three people who were not the murderer saw the body. “ _ If Nagito was an accomplice, he wouldn’t be blackened, so that’s one person who saw the body that counts to the body announcement. _ ” Kazuichi had a realization, suddenly scrolling to Byakuya’s account. 

Byakuya and Sonia found the body together.

The body discovery announcement played when Hajime and Kazuichi found the body. 

“M-miss Sonia? Byakuya? What exactly did you all do last night? I… I can’t believe it’s… It has to be one of you two.” Kazuichi said with his head down. He didn’t want to believe, nor did anyone else. “Monokuma told us at the start that the body discovery announcement only plays when three spotless students found the body. Nagito isn't blackened, so he counts as one of the spotless. So, why didn’t it play when Sonia and Byakuya found the body?” Kazuichi finished. He knew it had to be Byakuya, but there was no way people would believe him if he just initially came out with that assumption.

“I- I promise I did not do it! I promise, I was cleaning the entire night with Byakuya! There has to be another way.” Sonia pleaded. Everyone else looked at Byakuya expectantly. He had a grim look on his face. 

“Sonia is the culprit.” Byakuya stated. 

“A lady like Sonia would never murder someone! You’re lying.” Mahiru said.

“Sonia is the one that is lying. As I previously stated, Sonia and I were separated when we cleaned the office and storage room. We were not together the entire night.” Byakuya replied.

“There’s no way Miss Sonia would be the culprit!” Kazuichi shouted. 

“Kazuichi, you just stated she is a suspect. Every possibility must be examined in order to find the truth even if it is awful.” Hajime said. Kazuichi quieted down.

“I wasn’t finished. Sonia was also constantly drinking tea, meaning she took many bathroom trips. She also offered to carry many ‘heavy’ items back and forth in the old building so I did not have to exert myself too hard. At the time, I thought it was normal, but now… it is truly heartbreaking.” Byakuya said, an uncharacteristic sad tone in his voice. 

“Why should we believe him? If he’s the culprit, of course all he would do is lie.” Gundham replied. 

“I can’t believe you did this, Byakuya! We were supposed to be leaders together!” Sonia said through a few tears. 

“Miss Sonia has to be innocent, she couldn’t!” Kazuichi pleaded. He knew he was being unreasonable. He didn’t want to look. He had to be right. She had to be right. 

“Kazuichi, if you want to say she is innocent, then you have to prove it with evidence. You can’t get around it.” Hajime said while staring blankly at Kazuichi. 

“Ibuki feels like we’re stuck in a loop! What can we do?!” 

“Recounting what happened might expose new holes in the story… I think.” Chiaki said. The rest of the group started to recount the murder aloud, but Kazuichi looked inward. He didn’t want to believe Sonia was capable of murder, but he had to face it. He knew that to prove her innocent. Byakuya had to be the murderer. 

“ _ If Nagito was the accomplice, then the blackened had to talk to him, right? I was on Sonia’s tail for a while and I did see her talk to him… but that has to be coincidence! Plus, I didn’t know what Byakuya was doing before the murder either. We know that Teruteru was murdered before the door was kicked down. The murder itself was probably… Well, Byakuya probably had to ask Teruteru to see the soup, where Teruteru then got the stool for Byakuya. The Byakuya had to stand on the stool. Heh, that’s funny, imagining such a big guy standing on a tiny stool.  _

_ “Wait, I can’t imagine Byakuya on such a tiny stool. Byakuya also has long sleeves so he was less likely to need the tarp, when Sonia absolutely needed it. It was Sonia’s idea for the party, too.  _

_ “Sonia has an entire kingdom she cares deeply about. I remember the way her eyes lit up when she talked about it. The Ultimate Princess.” _

Kazuichi wanted to stop thinking. He didn’t want to believe. Miss Sonia was perfect in his mind, she would never do anything to hurt anyone else. In his mind, he could deny that she did anything wrong. However, Kazuichi knew now that he couldn’t keep believing she was untouchable. 

Kazuichi forced himself to listen to the conversation the rest of the students were having. He looked over at Hajime to find Hajime was staring at him with a grim expression. Chiaki was looking his way as well. They had to know too. When the conversation went into a lull, Kazuichi finally spoke again.

“Sonia had to be the one who did it. We just recounted the murder, right? The evidence at the scene doesn’t make sense if Byakuya is the killer.” Kazuichi said, looking away from the rest of the students at the end so they wouldn’t see him tear up. 

“The gloves shrunk because of the heat. They’re smaller than Byakuya’s hands are, but Sonia’s hands look like they fit.” Hajime added. Kazuichi was thankful he picked up the conversation. 

“That’s insufficient. It could have shrunk after he took them off.” Peko replied. 

“You’re right but… the stools are suspicious, too. The one the killer would have stood on is smaller than the one TeruTeru was standing on.” Chiaki said. 

“Byakuya could not have stood on that stool to get the height advantage he needed. Sonia could have. If Byakuya’s testimony was true, that marks yet another thing pointing to Sonia.” Hajime replied. 

“Is this correct, Sonia?” Gundham asked. He somehow looked paler than he usually did. Everyone was looking at Sonia, waiting for her to say something. There were tears streaming down her face. 

“No! Of course it is not! There is no way I would ever do something like that! We still haven’t cleared Nagito, have we?” Sonia pleaded, her hair becoming a bit less pristine than usual. 

“Sonia… out of everyone here, you would be the most likely to frame me… I saw you talking with Nagito one day… I’m sorry, but there’s too many coincidences pointing towards you.” Kazuichi said sadly. The tears on his face were drying. Sonia looked around the room frantically, eyes landing on Nagito. 

“You said it would work! You know how imperative it is that I go home!” Sonia screamed at Nagito. Kazuichi was frightened, flinching even though he wasn’t being yelled at.

“I wanted to help you have hope, but it looks like my bad luck got in the way again. At least I can make the rest of the class feel hopeful!” Nagito said, finishing with a smile. Sonia was sobbing. 

“I-I know you all should not sacrifice yourselves for me. I did a horrible thing, even though I promised we would all get out together. I lied to you all, but I wanted to see my kingdom again.” Sonia said, trying her best to pull herself together. “I know what I did was terribly, horribly wrong. I have people who will take my place. You all must go on.” Sonia started sobbing again, gripping her stand as she did so. “I… don’t mistake me for Nagito, for I am not like him at all, but… I am glad you all figured it out. You are better than I and deserve to live more.” Kazuichi wanted to interject and say she was the best, but now he knew that wasn’t the case. Someone can’t be the best person if they are a murderer. Her facade was broken now. 

“Monokuma, I believe it is time for the vote.” Sonia said. The rest of the class shouted their sorrows, their fears, and their betrayal at Sonia. Mahiru started to cry as well, while most people just had a bleak expression on their face. Even Monomi was sobbing from her tied up position.

“Finally! I almost thought you all would never get to the end, I was starting to get boooooored.” Monokuma jumped up and started stretching on top of his throne. “Sheesh, you all look so saaaaad! Isn’t it a good thing that we’re going to get rid of such a horrid murderer?” Monokuma asked.

“It is unimaginably cruel what you have forced us to do, you vile creature.” Gundham spat. 

“You made her do this! You lied to us all and forced us!” Mahiru yelled. 

Kazuichi couldn’t think of anything to say, He wanted to lunge at Monokuma and rip his head off in the process, but he knew it would only cause more trouble. He just braced himself for what was to come. 

“I would never lie to my beloved students! Well, I would, but not about anything related to a motie, upupupu… Now then, It’s voting time!!” Monokuma announced. 

A screen appeared on Kazuichi’s podium, forcing him to choose Sonia nevermind as the culprit. Once all the votes here in, a slot machine appeared on the large screen across from Monokuma. It spun until three of Sonia’s faces appeared on the slots, where then the machine released hundreds of coins with Monokuma’s face on it. Bright lights and sounds played, indicating a win, but all Kazuichi could do was feel terrible. 

“It looks like Sonia Nevermind has been found guilty as the blackened! You all are….. Correctumundo!! Upupupu… I’ve prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind!” Monokuma announced. 

“If- I mean when you all get out of here, please check on my kingdom!” Sonia said, as her final request.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got, it’s punishment time!” Monokuma said as he pressed a button, which forced a short animation of Monokuma dragging Sonia away on the screen to appear. 

Suddenly, a collar wrapped around Sonia’s neck and pulled her through the class. She was grabbing at her neck, instinctually trying to set herself free, but to no avail. She was pulled away to where she was suddenly on top of a podium in the middle of what looked like a town square. The collar around her neck whipped her down and forced her into a guillotine. Monokuma was holding the rope keeping the blade of the guillotine up, but he waddled around to where Sonia was, so he could place a very sparkly tiara on her head. 

Kazuichi could see the panic in her eyes through the presumably protective glass panel between them. Kazuichi started to bang on the glass, screaming for Monokuma to let her out. It seems they could not hear him. Gundham had to pull Kazuichi away from the glass. Kazuichi didn’t even notice that Gundham offered to touch him once again. 

Suddenly, a swarm of people with Monokuma masks crowded around the podium Sonia was on. It started with one tomato being thrown at Sonia, then it became another, then another, then it seemed like every single person threw their tomatoes at her at the same time. Sonia was gasping for breath, blowing tomato chunks out of her nose. At the same time, Monokuma was pulling the blade up and down, almost like he was teasing the crowd with Sonia’s oncoming execution. Just when the crown ran out of tomatoes and started yelling, it seemed like someone noticed an object in the sky. It was rapidly coming down near the crowd and Sonia. 

Kazuichi could see Sonia crying out for her people and Monokuma letting go of the blade as the now very apparent nuclear bomb hit the crowd. There was a blinding flash of light and a loud explosion that left Kazuichi’s ears ringing. Luckily, the students behind the glass were magically unharmed. 

When Kazuichi regained his vision, he noticed the scene was now empty. The only thing left on the other side of the glass were the shadows of who were once there. There was a shadow left on the ground that was different. It was just a head with a tiara on it. 

Sonia was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii follow my social medias @ trinscabbage.... ALSO OTHER FANFIC PPL HOW DO I LINK THINGS??? IN THE NOTES??? i know you can i dont know how im sorry :( 
> 
> also i once again apologize for this being late, I promise i have not abandoned it. also its not very soudamn centric now but i promise there will be more next chapter probably hopefully 
> 
> anyways like comment subscribe!!!... i was really proud of sonias execution! i came up with it all by myself. i was like... the despair she will feel by knowing not only that her people want her dead, but that they all died too like wowie :]


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